Help! I’m paying £4.50 a month to a premium rate text service – and I don’t know how to stop it
Welcome to our new money advice column where we ask you to send in your questions - and we help provide the answers
WHEN I received a text message out of the blue saying I'd subscribed to something called "SecretSalesCodes" for £4.50 a month I thought it was a scam and ignored it.
I had no idea where they could have got my number from and certainly wouldn't have deliberately signed up to something like this.
The message said I could text back 'STOP' to the number 60031 in order to cancel, but I thought that if this was a dodgy company then replying would just confirm that my number is active and lead to more spam.
Soon afterwards I had another text with a discount code to give me 60 per cent off at TK MAXX, and again I ignored it.
Then came another text with a code for money off at Thomas Cook, but I thought that as the company is now called TUI, this was even more suspicious.
I have a pay-as-you-go deal with GiffGaff and when I checked my account I was shocked to discover it was £9 down.
It was upsetting that this money that would have paid for all my phone calls for a month had been taken from me when I'm on such a tight budget and I'm careful about what I spend.
As a pensioner I'm not very wise to computer and phone technology and I was of the opinion that I should not engage with scam calls, texts or emails.
Can you tell me how this happened and help me get my money back?
Kiptiatu Nicol, Ilford
Leah Milner replies: You are not the only one to be baffled by pricey and unwanted texts from SecretSalesCodes.
There are a string of other people who have complained online, saying that they have no idea how they signed up.
We are all familiar with charity appeals that allow you to donate by texting a short number.
The amount you choose to give is then added to your mobile bill at the end of the month, which sometimes comes as a shock as you may have forgotten the donation by then.
But it is less well known that companies can set up regular subscriptions in this way and add sums to your phone bill month after month until you cancel.
Should you reply 'STOP' to spam texts?
IT is tricky to know whether to reply to spam texts with 'Stop' or if it will make matters worse
- If the message you receive is from a 4, 5 or 6-digit number and says that you are being charged for the texts, an easy solution is to phone your mobile provider and get the payments blocked.
- You can also use the Phone-paid Services Authority's to see if the number is registered.
- If so then it is safe to text back 'Stop'. If you are unhappy about how you were signed up to the service and don't believe you agreed to the charges, complain to the PSA at www.psaauthority.org.uk or on 0300 30 300 20.
- You should also complain to the company itself and ask for a refund.
- If the message is about PPI, accident claims or writing off your debts and comes from a normal-length 11-digit mobile number don't reply.
- You should report it to your mobile network by forwarding the message to 7726 (which spells 'Spam' on a phone's keyboard).
- Unfortunately these texts are often sent from unscrupulous firms using lots of different phone numbers so they can be hard to stop.
- You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at www.ico.org.uk.
The subscriptions may be for quizzes, competitions, gambling or even porn.
But every year the Phone-Paid Services Authority (PSA), which regulates this type of mobile charging, gets thousands of complaints from people who don't understand how they've racked up huge phone bills.
Of course companies are supposed to make it clear what you are signing up for, yet many people say they never knowingly agreed to text message subscriptions and want to know how it happened.
The PSA told me it has received 36 complaints about SecretSalesCodes since the firm was set up in December and is "considering the possibility of a formal investigation".
The regulator's website has a useful tool called where you can find out what company is behind any text messages you are receiving.
When I typed in the SecretSalesCodes number '60031' that you were receiving the texts from, it revealed the company sending the texts is called Mobtech and it is based in Germany.
The number checker tool also provided a UK phone number for SecretSalesCodes, a website and email address.
I contacted the company and it agreed to refund the money it had taken from you.
It says you joined the subscription service after you entered your details into a competition to win a £250 Amazon voucher.
After the competition page it says you were shown a screen telling you to enter your mobile phone number to "save money on your shopping with the latest voucher codes sent straight to your handset" at a cost of £4.50 a month.
Do you have a money problem that needs solving? Email Leah at [email protected]
It is a lot of money to pay for a couple of discount codes that weren't of any use to you, especially when there are plenty of free websites offering a similar service like Vouchercodes.co.uk.
When the PSA researched the online journey people go through to sign up for text message subscriptions, it found that it is quite possible for people to agree to expensive services without realising, particularly if it is linked to entering a competition.
You also raise a good point about whether or not you should reply "stop" to this type of message.
It's tricky to know which messages are a nuisance and which are an outright scam as our box explains.
Replying to scammers only confirms that your number is active and it may make the problem worse.
I think that in this case replying "stop" would have ended the charges, but I can see why you would be concerned about doing this.
MORE ON MONEY
An easy way around this dilemma is to phone your mobile provider and get it to block any further payments to the company.
A spokeswoman for SecretSalesCodes says: "We believe we have clearly informed Ms. Kiptiatu of the price of using our discount codes service, and we are sorry that she has not been satisfied.
"At no time has Ms Kiptiatu tried to contact us to resolve the issue.
"We are happy to refund the subscription fees in full as a gesture of goodwill."
Do you need our help with a customer service gripe or money dilemma? Email us at [email protected] and don't forget to include a daytime phone number. If you're complaining about a particular company, please include a line to say you give the firm in question permission to speak to The Sun about your case so that we can look into it for you. We cannot take any legal responsibility for the guidance given and it does not constitute financial advice.