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Special numbers overcharging

lila17_2022 Posted messages 3 Status Member -  
contrariness Posted messages 17903 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   -

Hello, I am a subscriber to S... and I have just received an overcharge of €273. It concerns premium numbers 0890326601, 0890243119, 089078....

The overcharge occurred over a period of 2 hours. 91 charges of €3 were made during these 2 hours. In total, there were 182 calls to these special numbers mentioned, of which 91 were charged at €3. The responsible party would be my 10-year-old son who may have played on a website that charges for purchases via special numbers. I was not aware that this was possible. S... confirms the charges by stating that these sites have been validated by the state.

Has anyone ever had this problem?

Is this billing legal to the extent that my 10-year-old son cannot realize this billing? The amount seems clearly abusive to me.

I am also almost sure that I disabled access to special numbers. How can I verify this since S... has disabled all paid options for me and even cut my landline phone line.

I consider this to be a scam. What do you think? Have you ever had this problem? Is this recurring?

Lila17_2022

3 answers

  1.
    bazfile Posted messages 58489 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   20 266
     

    Hello.

    Your operator has the right to ask you for this amount, what your son is doing is your responsibility, you can possibly ask your operator for a gesture but it's not certain that they will agree.

    For more information you have this forum where you can use the same username and password as on CCM.

    bazfile
    Moderator/Contributor security.
    A hello, a reply, and a thank you are always nice.

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  2. lila17_2022 Posted messages 3 Status Member
     

    Hello, I agree, my son is indeed under my responsibility; however, I find the billing of 90 calls at €3 each to be abusive. It is surely the site that is mainly responsible for this billing, but I believe I am not an isolated case and that this ease of billing through special numbers is particularly abusive, especially when it repeats 91 times in less than 2 hours. I didn't know this was possible. I may seem naïve, but it's truly unfortunate to open the door to such abuse...

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    1. bazfile Posted messages 58489 Registration date   Status Moderator Last intervention   20 266
       

      Your case is very common; this kind of number targets young people, such as the premium-rate numbers to call Santa Claus, for silly games, etc.

      Because of these numbers, quite a few parents have received hefty bills, which is why the operators have implemented a setting in their subscriber area that allows blocking calls to these numbers.

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  3. lila17_2022 Posted messages 3 Status Member
     

    My son didn't call these numbers. He may have been playing on the internet, activating a billing system that would charge through "fake calls" to these numbers. I'm still trying to understand what could have happened. Especially since I'm almost sure I blocked premium rate calls (it's impossible to call during the attractive offers from Kolantha).

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    1. contrariness Posted messages 17903 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   6 243
       

      With your operator, remember to deactivate the "Internet +" option..
      This option (which is often checked by default) allows you to add purchases made via the internet to your phone bill...

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