I was randomly checking my wifes minutes today and noticed that the $80 balance was $70.01 ($9.99 less than it should be). I called Virgin and they said, call back in a couple hours. She then told me that she recieved a weird text today, but didn't delete it yet. I looked at the text and it was from;
Guessology.com
and it says that we signed up for a $9.99/mo ringtones and stupid questions. After googling them, I learned pretty quickly they are from Canada and they are slamming charges. I did not respond to their STOP text or anything. I am really pissed about getting nailed for this.. Also Apparently, if you have no balance, this will shut your phone service off because of no balance, or it will nail your debit/credit card on file.
Oh, and I don't sign up for anything using my phone number, I use a dedicated spam number from google voice, so there is no reason to get this charge. I never give out my number.
I had something similar happen. 9.99 charge for "extra services". I called VM and they quickly removed the charge. Plus they asked me to text to a certain number with the subject "STOP". Turned out to be a monthly app review scam. One text a month with reviews. whoopie. Somehow I think it had something to do with a certain keyboard app that I downloaded as it was featured on their front page. But I have no real proof of it.
Sounds like you all downloaded apps that were trojan horses containing Plankton malware. Here are some details in an article from Sophos, a large security software firm.
I have been getting a ton of spam from weird numbers, such as 10000000000093 some were different. I always delete never open because you can tell it is not a real text, I found out few days ago that money had been taken off my account, I asked why and was told it was from receiving international texts! I lost my cool over that one, I have never been charged to receive a text from anyone when paying for unlimited, no matter where the text came from, but Im not going to pay to receive international spam, if I sent it or replied to it, then I could understand, but we should not be charged for spam msgs.
NHCharmedOne
My opinions are mine, not yours, no one says you have to agree with them! =)
Calling VM will solve the problem. I've done it in the past and so has my wife. They will refund whatever was taken out of the account and block the numbers sending you the spam.
crap..i just had this pop up in my notificatoin tray for my samsung galaxy sII ..thought it was the android market download....
i dont download malware apps or pirate them...how could this have came up???
Samsung...Galaxy?
Originally Posted by digi7al ph0enix
Calling VM will solve the problem. I've done it in the past and so has my wife. They will refund whatever was taken out of the account and block the numbers sending you the spam.
Calling VM?
Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but if VM sells the SII then I'm the King of Spain.
Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but if VM sells the SII then I'm the King of Spain.
This is the VM forum and this thread was started by a VM customer. My reply had nothing to do with someone with a SGS2. It isn't my fault someone posted in the wrong place and brought up an old thread, but my solution for VM customers is valid either way.
This is the VM forum and this thread was started by a VM customer. My reply had nothing to do with someone with a SGS2. It isn't my fault someone posted in the wrong place and brought up an old thread, but my solution for VM customers is valid either way.
Zombie threads are nobody's problem lol. They just need to be killed on sight...or moved, or something.
In response to the zombie resurrecter, you have probably downloaded an AirPush enabled app... which basically gives you ads in the worst way possible. Download "Addons Detector" to find which apps are using which advert service.
Same thing happened to me in Verizon. This Wrappio.com site presented themselves as an update to the Android Marketplace application and the next thing I know I'm getting charged $9.99/month for them to send be text based advertising!
Here are the letters I sent to Verizon:
I want to report a case of Fraud. A few weeks ago, I received an
update notification on my Android phone for the Android Market
Place application. I accepted the update and within a day or two
started receiving what I would call Spam Text messages from
this company called wrappio.com. These messages,
“recommend” applications they think I should buy. This month
when I received my Verizon Wireless Bill, I noticed it had
increased by a little over ten dollars so I looked at the detailed
breakdown. I found a charge $9.99 for Premium Messaging,
something that was not on any previous bill. This charge is
made to seem like it is coming from Verizon. I called customer
service and they told me it was coming from wrappio.com. First,
this company masquerades as if they are updating the already
installed Android Market Application, next they are billing me to
look at their spam text messages, actually charging me to look at
Advertising! This company is a Fraud and I am very angry Verizon
has allowed them to bill me through you. I do not understand
how a company can do this without there being a business
relationship with Verizon; meaning you should know who is
billing your customer and why. I would hate to think that Verizon
is profiting in any way from such an obvious scheme. It sounds
like some new legislation needs writing and some laws passed
to prevent companies like wrappio.com from stealing from your
customers since Verizon obviously does not have any
safeguards to prevent thieves putting bogus charges on our Bills.
My esteem for Verizon customer service has taken a major hit
because of this, now I will need to watch every penny you charge
me. I intend to contact my Congressional and Senatorial
representatives about this. I expect swift action to be taken to
prevent any further occurrences and I expect to be updated on
what steps you are taking against this wrappio.com.
Verizon's reply:
Thank you for your email in reference to the premium messages you were billed for recently. I apologize for these charges being generated and the inconvenience created as a result. My name is Steven and I attempted to contact you today (02/01/2012) at 12:35 PM (Mountain Time). Unfortunately, I was unable to reach you. A Premium SMS is a text message subscription that gives you access to services such as ringtones, wallpapers, or text alerts (e.g. weather alerts, news updates, and horoscopes). Your account was not verified correctly in the email that you sent in. I can still provide you with general and helpful information.
The charges you are referring to are the result of a Premium SMS (short messaging service) titled Wrappio Alerts. This service is provided by a third party vendor that was enabled from your wireless device or through a participating website.
During the initial sign up process, subscribers must confirm the acceptance of a premium charge subscription before the charges are applied to their account. Acceptance may be confirmed through a double opt-in process, which requires you to reply to a message sent to you by the content provider, or by inputting the PIN (sent to your wireless device) on the third party vendor's website.
If you would like to cancel your subscription, please reply to a text message from the third-party vendor or send a new text message to 82793 and include one of the following commands: STOP, QUIT, CANCEL, END or UNSUBSCRIBE.
Please ensure that the message body includes only one of the aforementioned commands. If you have a "Signature" included in your text messages, it must be deleted. You may delete your signature by placing the cursor behind your signature and pressing the CLR button on your wireless device. After the "Signature" has been deleted, you may then press SEND.
You will receive a text message confirming the cancellation of your Premium SMS subscription within 24 hours if you have sent the correct command. If you have not received your confirmation message within the 24 hours, please send one of the other keywords until you receive your confirmation message.
If you do not receive the confirmation message or need assistance with processing this cancellation of the Premium SMS subscription, please contact our data technical support team at 800-922-0204 from an alternate phone.
If you do not wish to complete the opt-out process described above, you have the option of adding Block Premium Messaging at no charge. This feature will prevent the registration to Premium SMS services going forward as well as cancel any current subscriptions.
You may add/remove Block Premium Messaging anytime by signing in to "My Verizon" using your Account Owner user ID and password and doing the following:
1. Click on “Change Features” icon located under “Plan” in the “I Want To” section near the middle of your home page.
2. Choose applicable wireless number and click “Next.”
3. Click on “Service Blocks” link located in the “Additional Services” section near the bottom of the page.
4. Select “Block Premium Messaging” and click “Continue”
Note: Please be aware you may be billed for the canceled Premium SMS subscription(s) on up to two more statements since they bill on a monthly cycle that may not coincide with your Verizon Wireless billing cycle.
For more information on Premium SMS Messaging please visit the Verizon Wireless website below:
Premium TXT Messaging and Premium Content Download Service
Stuart, according to our records, you previously added a password to your account. For your protection this password must be verified before I can discuss your account or process any changes. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and hope you understand our desire to protect account privacy.
In order to ensure secure transmission of your information, please do not reply directly to this e-mail. Instead, because our website is a much more secure method for you to transmit sensitive data, please send a new e-mail through our website and include your password along with your inquiry. You can send a new e-mail by clicking this direct link to the "Contact Us" page:
Looks like a form letter to me - Verizon profits from this Fraud so they aren't likely to do much about it.
I sent a letter to the office of Dianne Feinstein (because I live in CA)
Hello
I am contacting you because some action needs to be taken to prevent third-party companies from being allowed to charge our Cell Phones without there being a clear business relationship between them and our Carriers. Meaning the Carrier, in this case Verizon Wireless needs to know what kind of service the company is offering and what they intend to charge for it. A company called Wrappio.com has been allowed by Verizon to charge $9.99 to my cell phone bill because they sent me some spam Text messages, recommending applications I should buy from them. My first encounter with Wrappio.com came when they sent a notification to my phone masquerading as a legitimate update to the Android Market Place Application, which comes pre-installed on all Android Phones. You use the Android Market Place Application to shop for more Applications; it is the iTunes App Store for Android. So literally Wrappio.com wants to charge me for their Spam Advertising, this is like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese charging me to watch their commercials! How Verizon could allow such fraudulent company to bill me through them is the real issue here. There will always be dishonest people who will take advantage of any weakness they find, but we should be able to trust a company that we have knowingly entered into a business relationship not to allow other companies to masquerade as a legitimate affiliates like the Google Android Market with the clear intent to commit fraud. I have serious concerns that Verizon along with the other wireless carries may be looking the other way on this issue because they are profiting in some way by doing so. Here is the letter I sent to Verizon Customer Service.
"wrappio" is some of the crapware Airpush puts on your notification bar. It (AirPush, like I mentioned above) is nothing short of a malware middleman, and wrappio? It's malware itself.
The "site" just notifies you about Android apps you could have learned about in any other $#@* way, by billing you a whole load.
Couple that with Airpush spamming your notification bar, making you think it's a legit Android notification...
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NHCharmedOne
Originally Posted by Eyecon82
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