What better use of blog that to promote your own family and friends?

Well, following the triumphant debut of my brother Richard in the inaugural Wiseman goes wild! Episode 1 : Jerk Chicken, I thought I’d plug the second in the epic “Wiseman goes wild” series Wiseman goes wild. Episode 1.1. Wiseman ‘does’ ikea!

Produced by Dan Marowak it features tips and hints for foraging when you find yourself in you local Swedish furniture store. This epic video is a must see. Or something.

Anyhow, that’s my job done. And to think, this once used to be about programming!

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

IMPORTANT!:Loans & Credit Cards can now have their INTEREST & CHARGES FROZEN if you’re unable to make the repayments. For more info txt INFO or txt stop to stop.

Received from:

• +447938402427/07938402427

Image via Wikipedia

This is a spam text message WHICH IS ILLEGAL. The companies that use this form of marketing are equivalent to the people who buy stolen goods. These are not the sort of companies you want to do business with! It is likely that any dealing with them will leave you worse off.

This is one of many messages that are circulating as originally highlighted in my article Debt Settlement Order Spam Text Message. If you ever receive anything that remotely fits this template then delete it.

As for the ability to ‘Freeze’ the charges, there is a Debt Relief Order (Link to Citizens Advice Bureau), which is only available to people in very very very specific circumstances and who remain in those circumstances for the duration of the order. It also has some marked consequences, which are not to be taken lightly. You can find these by scrolling down through this article.

Moreover, Debt Relief Orders can only be processed through an approved intermediary (otherwise known as a “Competent Authority). These can be found by visiting this site. Note, the company that is touting for your business will NOT be an approved intermediary.

Again, DO NOT REPLY. This is a random act of spamming – a computer program is systematically trying to send this out to thousands of numbers at random. It has, by sheer chance, found your number!

And, if you can, post the number in the comments below. This will help people searching by that number alone find this article and avoid any potential trouble arising from replying.

Also, please. please post any variants in full. I have had so many comments from people in desperate circumstances who are being targeted by the parasites that operate these scams.

Are You a Victim?

Screenchannel Television is making a new series about debt and loans and are looking for people to share their experiences. If have been a victim of this scam, or have even considered responding and are interested in taking part, then you can read more in this article.

How Does It Work?

The whole setup is quite elaborate. But in essence there is a computer program that pretends to be the number you see that sends out all the spam messages. Meanwhile, another computer program monitors the text-message mailbox of all of the numbers you see. If you reply, then you are added to a database of numbers to be called (and for future spamming).

I’ve written this up in full at: Telephony Leads and Debt Management Companies – How It Works.

Reporting

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

I would also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspx

Debt and Loans series

Have you received a text message offering a Debt Settlement Order, or help to claim following your “accident”, of one of the dozen or so other variants being sent to thousands of phones across the country?

Have you fallen victim one of these of spam text messages, or have you considered responding?

If so, Screenchannel Television, the makers of BBC1′s Fake Britain, are making a new series about debt and loans and be very interested to hear from anyone who has received such a text or email, and who was either tempted to reply but didn’t, or who actually replied and would be happy to talk about what happened as a result.

To share your story, or to find out more, please email debt@screenchannel.co.uk.

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

I received two of these messages in the last two days:

Free MSG: Government Debt Help available, those struggling to repay can apply to have debt written off. To apply for more info txt YES or to opt out txt stop

Received from:

• +447873457012 /07873457012
• +447543041390 /07543041390

Image via Wikipedia

This is one of many messages that are circulating as originally highlighted in my article Debt Settlement Order Spam Text Message. If you ever receive anything that remotely fits this template then delete it.

First off, there is no such government debt help as the message implies. There is a Debt Relief Order (Link to Citizens Advice Bureau), which is only available to people in very very very specific circumstances and who remain in those circumstances for the duration of the order. It also has some marked consequences, which are not to be taken lightly. You can find these by scrolling down through this article.

Moreover, Debt Relief Orders can only be processed through an approved intermediary (otherwise known as a “Competent Authority). These can be found by visiting this site. Note, the company that is touting for your business will NOT be an approved intermediary.

Again, DO NOT REPLY. And, if you can, post the number in the comments below. This will help people searching by that number alone find this article and avoid any potential trouble arising from replying. I’d also be interested to hear of any variants on this message that surface.

The sending of any spam IS ILLEGAL. The companies that use this form of marketing are equivalent to the people who buy stolen goods. These are not the sort of companies you want to do business with!

If you want to read more, can I recommend the above link. It contains a list of articles that I’ve written regarding this whole scam and its setup. I found the research both fascinating and appalling at the same time.

How Did they Get My Number?

The didn’t. They guessed it. For every sucessfully send text message there may be hundreds sent to inactive or non-existent numbers. See how it works in this blog posting.

Are You a Victim?

Screenchannel Television is making a new series about debt and loans and are looking for people to share their experiences. If have been a victim of this scam, or have even considered responding and are interested in taking part, then you can read more in this article.

Reporting

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

I would also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspxDue to a new legislation, those struggling with debt can now apply to have it written off. For more information text the word ‘INFO’ or to opt-out text stop.

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

Looking for a load or payday 95% approvals in june,complete online in 5mins. www.extramoneymatters.co.uk No guarantor. To opt out reply stop

Received from:

• +447523822040/07523822040

Another spam text message variant to look out for.

Image via Wikipedia

This is a spam text message WHICH IS ILLEGAL. The companies that use this form of marketing are equivalent to the people who buy stolen goods. These are not the sort of companies you want to do business with!

This is one of many messages that are circulating as originally highlighted in my article Debt Settlement Order Spam Text Message. If you ever receive anything that remotely fits this template then delete it.

Again, DO NOT REPLY. This is a random act of spamming – a computer program is systematically trying to send this out to thousands of numbers at random. It has, by sheer chance, found your number!

And, if you can, post the number in the comments below. This will help people searching by that number alone find this article and avoid any potential trouble arising from replying.

Also, please. please post any variants in full. I have had so many comments from people in desperate circumstances who are being targeted by the parasites that operate these scams.

Are You a Victim?

Screenchannel Television is making a new series about debt and loans and are looking for people to share their experiences. If have been a victim of this scam, or have even considered responding and are interested in taking part, then you can read more in this article.

How Does It Work?

The whole setup is quite elaborate. But in essence there is a computer program that pretends to be the number you see that sends out all the spam messages. Meanwhile, another computer program monitors the text-message mailbox of all of the numbers you see. If you reply, then you are added to a database of numbers to be called (and for future spamming).

I’ve written this up in full at: Telephony Leads and Debt Management Companies – How It Works.

Reporting

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

I would also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspx

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

Free Message: Important! Our records indicate you may be entitled to £3450 from Mis-Sold Loan Insurance! To claim reply YES to this message. Thank you!

Received from: +447848390971/07848390971

This message surfaced on the same day as the decision by the British Bankers Association not to appeal against the high court ruling on Payment Protection Insurance. The adjacent BBC article reports that several million people may be worthy of such compensation – ripe pickings for our scammers.

If you’re looking to claim back any money in relation to this, the BBC outlines a series of steps you can take personally. You can also check out the PPI reclaiming guide at moneysavingexpert.com. Ultimately, this is your money, rightfully due to you, so why waste money on an opportunistic company just looking to profit from your misfortune.

Image via Wikipedia

In addition, this is spam text message WHICH IS ILLEGAL. Companies that use this form of marketing are equivalent to individuals who buy stolen goods. These are not the sort of companies you want to do business with!

This is one of many messages that are circulating as originally highlighted in my article Debt Settlement Order Spam Text Message. If you ever receive anything that remotely fits this template then delete it.

Again, DO NOT REPLY

And, if you can, post the number in the comments below. This will help people searching by that number alone find this article and avoid any potential trouble arising from replying.

I’d be interested to hear of any variants on this message that surface.

If you want to read more, can I recommend the above link. It contains a list of articles that I’ve written regarding this whole scam and its setup. I found the research both fascinating and appalling at the same time.

Are You a Victim?

Screenchannel Television is making a new series about debt and loans and are looking for people to share their experiences. If have been a victim of this scam, or have even considered responding and are interested in taking part, then you can read more in this article.

Reporting

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

I would also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspx

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

Get yourself DEBT FREE this Year! Reply “info” to this number for details. Government backed scheme. Free to reply. Get a fresh start. £1000 plus. PER Ltd

I just recieved a new one today. Received from: +447786207081 / 07786207081

Image via Wikipedia

This is one of many messages that are circulating as originally highlighted in my article Debt Settlement Order Spam Text Message. If you ever receive anything that remotely fits this template then delete it.

Again, DO NOT REPLY

And, if you can, post the number in the comments below. This will help people searching by that number alone find this article and avoid any potential trouble arising from replying.

I’d be interested to hear of any variants on this message that surface.

If you want to read more, can I recommend the above link. It contains a list of articles that I’ve written regarding this whole scam and its setup. I found the research both fascinating and appalling at the same time.

Are You a Victim?

Screenchannel Television is making a new series about debt and loans and are looking for people to share their experiences. If have been a victim of this scam, or have even considered responding and are interested in taking part, then you can read more in this article.

Reporting

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

I would also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspx

Years ago when I built my first website on the server of the University of Bath I linked to all my mates’ pages regardless of whether or not it was relevant, just pad it out a bit and because, well, it was good manners.

Bob

When I first set up my website, I did the same as well, but in 2005 (?) all these had disappeared as I pretended I was running something resembling a professional website (I wasn’t).

Well, it’s now 2011, and I’d like to resurrect the fine old tradition of linking to Mates’ pages, regardless of relevance and in defiance of any rules surrounding coordinated link exchanges.

So, can I introduce Bob and his site: alittlebitspecial.com. Bob’s site is “tidy” (his words) and has many interesting things that I don’t quite understand, including his BSc Maths thesis. It also has some strange pictures of the artifacts of his self-processed geekyness. It also conforms to many standards, even the tricky accessibility ones.

He also suggested another site, which would be churlish of me to exclude, even though I have no idea what it’s about: http://www.netork.co.uk.

So, here’s to you, Bob. Hooray!

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

Another one for the collection.

Due to a new legislation, those struggling with debt can now apply to have it written off. For more information text the word ‘INFO’ or to opt-out text stop.

Received from: +447591298462 /07591298462

And other variants:

Due to existing legislation, those struggling with debt are entitled to know their options. For more information text the word DEBT or to opt out text Stop.

Due to new legislation, records indicate that you are eligible to lower your monthly payments and maybe write off up to 75% of your debt. Reply HELP for info

This is one of many messages that are circulating as originally highlighted in my article Debt Settlement Order Spam Text Message. If you ever receive anything that remotely fits this template then delete it.

Image via Wikipedia

It appears that the perpetrators have dropped the “Debt Settlement Order” text from the front after gaining much negative publicity and presence in the public’s consciousness. As you might suspect, no such legislation has been recently introduced. The UK government made no mention of this is their recent budget.

The only thing that vaguely resembles this is a Debt Relief Order (Link to Citizens Advice Bureau), which is only available to people in very very very specific circumstances and who remain in those circumstances for the duration of the order. It also has some marked consequences, which are not to be taken lightly. You can find these by scrolling down through this article.

Moreover, Debt Relief Orders can only be processed through an approved intermediary (otherwise known as a “Competent Authority). These can be found by visiting this site. Note, the company that is touting for your business will NOT be an approved intermediary.

Again, DO NOT REPLY. And, if you can, post the number in the comments below. This will help people searching by that number alone find this article and avoid any potential trouble arising from replying. I’d also be interested to hear of any variants on this message that surface.

If you want to read more, can I recommend the above link. It contains a list of articles that I’ve written regarding this whole scam and its setup. I found the research both fascinating and appalling at the same time.

Are You a Victim?

Screenchannel Television is making a new series about debt and loans and are looking for people to share their experiences. If have been a victim of this scam, or have even considered responding and are interested in taking part, then you can read more in this article.

Reporting

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

I would also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspxDue to a new legislation, those struggling with debt can now apply to have it written off. For more information text the word ‘INFO’ or to opt-out text stop.

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

FREEMSG: Our records indicate you may be entitled to 3750 pounds for you Accident. To claim for free, reply with YES to this msg. To opt out text STOP

Received from: +447770428521 / 07770428521

There appear to be many common variants of spam text message flying around the system. This is one that surfaced during the recent (2010) winter which saw treacherous roads and pavements give rise to increased hospital admissions.

Image via Wikipedia

This is one of many messages that are circulating as originally highlighted in my article Debt Settlement Order Spam Text Message. If you ever receive anything that remotely fits this template then delete it.

Again, DO NOT REPLY

And, if you can, post the number in the comments below. This will help people searching by that number alone find this article and avoid any potential trouble arising from replying.

I’d be interested to hear of any variants on this message that surface.

If you want to read more, can I recommend the above link. It contains a list of articles that I’ve written regarding this whole scam and its setup. I found the research both fascinating and appalling at the same time.

Are You a Victim?

Screenchannel Television is making a new series about debt and loans and are looking for people to share their experiences. If have been a victim of this scam, or have even considered responding and are interested in taking part, then you can read more in this article.

Reporting

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

T-Mobile don’t appear to have any page for reporting, but there are a few suggestions on this post

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspx

Debt Settlement Orders, and the original debt settlement order spam text message post (http://www.jameswiseman.com/blog/2011/01/17/debt-settlement-order-unsolicited-text-message/), written back in January (2011) have now caught the attention of some areas of the British media.

• Simon Read of the Independent Newspaper covered it in Consuming Issues: Scam debt text hopes to trick the vulnerable in the Independent on Saturday on 2nd April 2011.
• On 23rd March 2011 it was Featured in Penman & Sommerlad Investigate Daily Mirror Blog

This is great news as at all helps spread the word.

Other messages in this series include:

• Debt Relief Order – Spam Text Message
• Affiliate Data Systems – “Accident Claims” Scammers
• getaloanfast.co.uk – Get A 15k Loan Fast – Text Message Spam
• DEBT FREE message from Per Ltd
• Telephony Leads and Debt Management Companies – How It Works
• Debt Settlement Order Texts – Campaign To Feature On BBC Watchdog
• Empty Text Message Spam

The world is full of people trying to separate the vulnerable from their money. If you are interested, you can read about my Blog series on the Windows Support Telephone Scam based in India. Its worth knowing about so you can warn family and friends.

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

With my original debt settlement order spam text message post having gained significant velocity in the blogosphere, I thought it worth posting here with regard to a subtle change of tack for the spammers with this new message:

The government has introduced a Debt Relief Order. People struggling to pay bills can have debt wiped off for ever. For more info text INFO. To stop text STOP

This is hardly surprising. A search for Debt Settlement order in google at the time of writing yielded the above post with the text ‘DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM’, whereas, a search for Debt Relief Order revealed no such indication.

For now, all the info regarding this is on the above link.

Feel free to post any numbers and variants below. It’ll all help keep this prominent and prevent others from falling into the same trap.

Are You a Victim?

Screenchannel Television is making a new series about debt and loans and are looking for people to share their experiences. If have been a victim of this scam, or have even considered responding and are interested in taking part, then you can read more in this article.

The Chainsaw-Severed Arm Counter-Scam

This is part of my blog series that started with the receipt of a debt settlement order spam text message.

Image by Odalaigh via Flickr

I decided to take the plunge and respond to a couple of these spam/scam text messages to see what response I got.

Within about an hour I received a call from an anonymous number, so took a deep breath and pressed the answer button. I was greeted by a lady at the opposite end of the line. I didn’t have access to recording facilities, so you’ll just have to make do with the transcript below:

Operator: “Hello, I am calling from Affiliate Data Systems regarding your recent accident.”

Me: “Yes, sorry, what was your name”

Operator: “Affiliate Data Systems”

Me: Sorry Did you say “Affiliate Data Systems” (I’m writing this down)

Operator: “Yes”

Me: “Right, yes, I’ve just recently cut my arm off with a chainsaw.”

Operator: “Really?”

(Of course, she was calling regarding my recent accident, so she should have known this)

Me: “Yes, it’s a pain, because its my right arm that is severed, and I’m right-handed”

Operator: “Right, well, can I take some details. What is your first name?”

(Note, she didn’t ask me why I was using the chainsaw with my left hand if I was right handed).

Me: “Hugh”

Operator: “And your second name?”

Me: “Jars. My name is Hugh Jars”

(I’m resisting the very acute temptation to snigger at this point)

Operator: “Right, Mr Jars, and what is your postcode”

Me: [Made something up]

Operator: “That doesn’t seem to exist”

Me: “That’s probably because I built it myself – that’s how my arm ended up getting severed”

Operator (ignoring me): “OK, what is your house number?”

Me: 2786

(Operator decides she’s had enough at this point and hangs up!)

Great fun, great fun! Especially hearing the surprise of the woman when hearing about the chainsaw accident.

Others are welcome to try the same!

You can read more on this in my blog series on text message nuisances.

DO NOT REPLY EITHER WAY – THIS IS A SCAM

This is another spam text message in the same vein as the Debt Settlement Order Unsolicited Text Message that I wrote about in January earlier this year.

I received this a few days ago from 07581497874 / +447581497874.

You will almost certainly have a different number. Feel free to post it below, and follow the instructions below for reporting.

And here is it:

Are you looking for aloan up to 15k. No guarantor. Same day payout. Bad Credit OK. Completely online. Visit www.getaloanfast.co.uk To opt-out reply stop

Searching around there are other variants:

Your loan has been approved for up to 15K  No guarantor. Same day payout. Bad Credit OK. Completely online.

This is the first text where the name of the company (Getaloanfast.co.uk) are featured. I have deliberately not linked to their website but you can, of course visit at your own leisure through the wonders of copy/paste. Monsters wont emerge forth from your monitor and destroy the universe. No physical harm will become you, however I really wouldn’t bother. I was going to include a screenshot, but there’s a sneaky copyright at the bottom, so i thought I’d play it safe.

Let’s look carefully at the APR. Apparently, the ‘typical’ rate is 17.9%. The word ‘typical’ is particularly valid here. Essentialliy, it means that they would expect to give 66% (nearly two-thirds) of their customers a loan at that rate. Here are a couple of links with more details on ‘Typical APR’ if you are interested:

• The difference between APR Variable and APR Typical
• Understanding Typical APRs

But this advertised rate is very misleading, because when you go through the loan application process you are not actually offered a loan from GetALoanFast.co.uk at all. So, you can kiss goodbye to that 17.9% right away!

In fact, the parent company that underpins this operation does its best obfuscate its actual identity and actual interest rate until the very last stage in the process. And even then you are left a little unsure. Let’s have a look at this:

What Happens When You ‘Apply’?

So, let’s take an imaginary customer, Dr William T Conqueror, who wants to take out a 15K loan as they suggest. William, 35, is married, and is super-rich. He has a house valued at ten-million pounds with no mortgage and a monthly income of one million pounds. He has an impeccable credit history and wants the loan over sixty months for some home improvements.

We’re forced to enter a phone number, so I use the one above (i.e. the one that supposedly sent me the message in the first place). We go through the screens to get a quote. We are happily informed:

We are now matching your details with over 251 lenders to find you the best quotation possible, this will only take a few seconds……

251 companies? Wow! And then:

Loan Found

Great news, one of our approved partners has found you a loan.

This can all be done online and to save you time we have already pre-populated your details to their online portal ready for completion.

Horay! So we are taken to the next page, and we’re not on the GetALoanFast.co.uk site anymore. Instead we are at ‘loanfinder.co.uk’. So, GetALoanFast may offer 17.9% APR, but it doesn’t appear possible to obtain a loan from them at all.

Rather than the originally touted 251 companies, we now appear to have ‘searched’ through 292! And what is the APR the ‘selected’ company is offering  our  zero-risk multi-millionaire doctor and lord of the manor?

53.9 %APR Representative

53.9%!!! According to Guardian Newspaper Loan Repayment Calculator, over 60 months we would end up paying back £28,544.10 . That’s nearly double!

So, what of LoanFinder.co.uk? Well, they are a bit hard to pin down:

• It uses GetALoanFast.co.uk as a front to make it appear that if offers a 17.9% APR
• Loanfinder is a trading name of Post Net Ltd
• Loanfinder is part of the Richmond Group of companies

Eh? So who are they then? It could be one of four different companies!

I would consider any company are willing to resort to spamming thousands of phones in order to drum up business, to be of extremely questionable and dubious repute. By seemingly attempting to ‘cloak’ their identity, they reduce my opinion of their rectitude yet further.

I would rather gnaw my own arm off then get a loan with this company.

And then I look even further. When searching in Google for LoanFinder.co.uk scam I get a whopping 36,000 results. Top of a list is an entire site dedicated to this – Loanfinderukscam.co.uk. Take a look further. The author is of now doubt that this is a scamming operation, although, does publish a response from them on HubPages.com.

Spam is widely regarded as being unethical. The methods by which the spam text message reaches your phone is cloaked in deceit and trickery (see my article Telephony Leads and Debt Management Companies – How It Works) and the cumulative cost to the spam recipients is greater than the cost to the spammer themself.

Consider the following other products that are marketing by spam, that we have become more hardened to:

• Viagra
• Diet Pills
• Other pharmaceuticals
• Fake College Degrees

Most people wouldn’t dream of paying these items even a second glance, so why not treat EVERY company that does this the same way, regardless of the medium (Email, Text Messages, Telephone Calls, Post, etc).

Are You a Victim?

Screenchannel Television is making a new series about debt and loans and are looking for people to share their experiences. If have been a victim of this scam, or have even considered responding and are interested in taking part, then you can read more in this article.

Reporting

Back in May 2009, the Guardian newspaper wrote an article Spam to go – the new mobile menace. It recommends a number of organisations you can contact.

To complain about an inappropriate text, call the Advertising Standards Authority 020 7492 2222 or go to www.asa.org.uk/asa/contact/

To resolve continual mobile spam despite texting “stop”, contact the ICO on 01625 54 57 45 or go to www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

For help with premium rate text spam, call PhonepayPlus on 0800 500 212 or log on to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/output/Make-a-complaint.aspx

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

I would also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

You can also try NumberCop and DoNotCall.gov

Leave Your Numbers

Again, post your numbers below. Some people may search just for that number, so if we can help others then all the better.

Humanity

I first because interested in finding more about spam text message marketing after receiving a a Debt Settlement Order Unsolicited Text Message and writing about it. When I started writing this article, I intended for it to be a discussion on how they are set up and how they operate, but after reading some of the comments on the original article, I felt compelled to write about the human aspect to this as well.

Image by wallyg via Flickr

It started as a mild annoyance – a text message out of the blue from an anonymous source. Immediately I posted an article expressing that, in my humble opinion, that this sort of thing is a scam and a disgrace, which should be rightly condemned, broadly forewarned, and then ignominiously ignored.

Forward-wind three weeks and hit rates for the article are topping 1000 per-day with approaching 50 commenters on each day also. For a small independent blogger such as myself, this was (and is) absolutely staggering.

And then I received a comment which hit me for six:

just got this one today; to apply txt DEBT.2 stop txt STOP +447756209481, I could do with some help just been made redundant. Paul

Suddenly I was struck by humanity of the situation and filled with an acute awareness of the true suffering that some might be feeling.

Image via Wikipedia

What if ‘Paul’ was planning for a wedding, or saving for his child’s birthday? What if he had just bought a new house, or spent years on painstaking home improvements only to see it jeopardised?.

Debt is a plight that doesn’t tend to lie in the general public’s compassion sweet-spot. It engenders a perception that somehow an individual has been frivolous, and maybe shouldn’t have bought that 50-inch plasma TV. But in a society where we are openly encouraged to embrace debt, there are inevitably some casualties. When truly desperate people are perhaps are at their most vulnerable, so they clutch at the flimsiest of straws, and there are none flimsier than some of the companies that purport to help with debt relief.

So, when it comes to compassion, a special mention should go to the people at Christians Against Poverty (CAPUK), who I encountered during the course of researching this article. CAPUK are registered charity dedicated helping anyone who seeks their help become debt free. A conversation with one of their counsellors yielded a very generous offer to visit their operations in Bradford, and a lot of very useful information regarding these marketing schemes and how they operate.

Who Are They?

Essentially there are two companies working in this sort of setup.

The first is dedicated to the provision of ‘Leads’ through the spam marketing they provide. These companies have set up the infrastructure to harvest potential customers via spam text. Those that reply are considered fair game, and their details are added to a database to be considered for future bombardments.

Image by boskizzi via Flickr

The second is the company that acts upon the leads. This is the debt management company, or the accident claims company, or whichever parasite is looking for somewhere into which it can sink its proboscis. They buy the ‘leads’ from the leads company.

Anecdotal evidence from the original blog article comments suggests there are a third, intermediary ‘call centre’, as claimed by one of the operators. I suspect this is bogus, and more an attempt to deflect attention away from the company acting upon the leads.

Telemarketing Leads Companies

I’m sure there are dozens, maybe even hundreds of operators dedicated to the provision of spam text marketing. A Google search for “telemarketing leads” will reveal scores of companies dedicated to “generating leads through telemarketing.”

LeadX (I’ve deliberately omitted the hyperlink) are just such a company. Their website is careful in its wording on how they conduct their business:

LeadX is a company that specialises in data aggregation. Using proprietary software it enables companies to target consumers whose behaviour will ultimately trigger a purchase, even if that purchase is in another market sector.

However their associates are less shy:

Having looked we’re cheaper than the posts on here!!!

We must be doing it right!!!

We are generating DM leads via websites and phone calls specifically engineered around debt management

How did I make that connection? Well, the poster publishes his email address in this other article.

And, not content with basing a whole business model on the concept of harvesting people in the plight of debt, LeadX also made a staggeringly outrageous attempt to claim that it was exempt from VAT by taking it to the United Kingdom VAT & Duties Tribunals! Seeking to deprive the economy of yet more money!

Gladly, they failed, but this sort of action demonstrates how lucrative the business must be to justify the hiring of an indirect taxation specialist.

Image via Wikipedia

Debt Management Companies

Although many companies feed off telemarketing spam leads, my focus here is still very much on the debt management companies that do this. There are legitimate and reputable debt management companies out there that provide an fair, honest and valuable service. For me, the measure of their legitimacy has a broad correlation with the level of reticence they have to engage in this sort of business.

There isn’t much I can write here that hasn’t already been written. So maybe I can leave it to the Citizens Advice Bureau in an extract taken from their ‘Super Complaint‘ against some such companies:

As the title suggests, the central issue of the report and our super-complaint is the significant and we believe widespread consumer detriment two related business practices in the consumer credit market:

• Firms cold-calling consumers by telephone and text to promote consumer credit products and ancillary credit services.
• Firms taking upfront fees for credit services, often by persuading customers to give them their banking details, sometimes by taking unauthorised deductions. CAB Clients report getting little or no service in return and are unable to get their money back.

(Further information and advice can be found in this article on the CAB Website).

You do not have to look far to find warnings about accepting help from these sorts of companies. I’d thought i’d share a few links that highlight this:

Simon Read, who writes for the Independent and Daily Mirror newspapers recently penned this excellent article for the Independent: Consuming Issues: Call for curb on rip-off debt and loan firms

MSN Money carry an interesting article detailing the hidden costs of debt settlement in their article: Debt settlement: A costly escape

Image by Dimitri N. via Flickr

And UK Debt Advice carry an article detailing exactly what it is these companies are trying to offer in the UK, a ‘Debt RELIEF Order’.

However there is a conspicuous opacity to the presence of free forums on the web from which advice can possibly be obtained. I have encountered two that I would personally recommend:

Personal Finance & Money is one of the sites in the StackExchange Inc Network. I contribute regularly to Stackoverflow, another site in their network, and can thoroughly recommend them. As testament to the expertise brought to these forums, you will find two excellently answered questions about this in their network here at Personal Finance & Money, and here at IT Security (asked by me!)

The Legal Beagles Consumer Forum also seems like a great place if you’re looking for help. It was a recommendation from one of the commenters in the original article I wrote. I have no personal experience of this, but looks to be pretty good.

A recent commenter also suggested GetOutOfDebtFree.Org, which offer tempalte letters and simple strategies for lawfully, honestly and truthfully dealing with debt.

How Does It Work?

So, given that we have the companies dedicated to the provision of leads, and the companies that buy these leads, you might be curious to know how the whole operation hangs together.

Being from a technical background, this was central to my original curiosity, so the next few sections delve into a more technical discussion of the setup, which I found to be utterly fascinating, and yet, appalling all at the same time.

Numbers

My first query surrounded how on earth the companies were able obtain and monitor such a vast array of registered mobile numbers. To do this, it’s useful to understand exactly how many numbers are at their disposal. A standard UK mobile phone number will begin with ’07′ with nine following digits. This translates to a theoretically available numeric range from 07000000000 to 07999999999 – one short of a billion.

Image by turbojoe (it's joetime!!!) via Flickr

Let’s assume that there are one-hundred million allocated and owned numbers in the UK (equivalent to most of the population owning two mobile phones). This leaves nine-hundred million ‘unowned’ numbers going begging. If every ‘unowned’ number in the UK were to send just one text, every ‘owned’ number would receive, on average, nine text messages.

In the spam model adopted by the ‘leads’ companies, one number will be the ‘source’ for hundreds, or possibly thousands of spam texts, scaling the received spam potential for each valid phone user into the tens of thousands (remember, we’re still assuming unrealistically that everyone has two mobile phones!)

But, how do they get these numbers? Well, actually its very easy. There are companies that specialise in selling active pay-as-you-go SIM cards (SIMs that have an associated number). It is possible for a spammer to purchase very large batches on Ebay. At the time of writing these retailed at around £0.40 (40 UK pence) per unit.

The numbers will have a supporting network provider. OfCom (the independent communications industry regulator) actually publish which ranges of number belong to which network provider. (Excel Spreadsheet).

Mobile operators are fairly swift in shutting these down once in becomes apparent they are being used for spam, but their infrastructure is such, that all a company will have to do is ‘plug-in’ a different batch of numbers. It could even be that the company will continue to send out spam text from a number UNTIL it is deactivated.

Apart from being a nuisance, and tricking innocent people into thinking there is a solution to their debt problems, there are two additional consequences of this.

Number Recycling

The first consequence surrounds whether or not the blocked numbers eventually being recycled.

Image by Coach O. via Flickr

If they are then the eventual recipient will end up with a number that was once exposed as having spammed. There are many sites out there (including this one) on which spamming numbers are recorded. Would you fancy your mobile number being cited as being responsible for spam? Not me.

Suffice to say, if the numbers are not being recycled, then we will have an ever-decreasing pool of numbers from which to pick. We may consider the 900 Million or so numbers to be a vast reserve, but if that dwindles sufficiently, then the operators may need to consider adding an extra number in there somewhere. Which, of course, cost time and money to put into effect, and ultimately the people that will be required to foot the bill will be the average customer, us.

Infrastructure Costs

Image by Wonderlane via Flickr

Did I mention costs? Well here is the second consequence.

Consider the hundreds of thousands of spam text messages flying around the mobile infrastructure. This infrastructure has been built off the back of  investments from the tax payer and the mobile companies themselves (which pass these investment costs onto bill-paying customers).

In the US, the FTC have been fighting to shut down a single operation responsible for sending out in excess of 5.5 Million unsolicited text messages. If you think the network has the capacity to cope with a bit of spam, then consider the impact of dozens of companies conducting the same sort of operation.

Caller ID Spoofing

At this point, I’m hoping you’ll indulge me as I enter a more technical discussion of some of the aspects of the setup.

Let’s define some terms up front:

Caller ID: The term Caller ID (CID) is also referred to as calling line identification (CLID) or calling number identification (CNID). Put simply, this is the bit of information carried with the call that enables the recipient’s phone to display what number is calling.

Like any such piece of information, this can be changed, i.e. faked or ‘spoofed’.

Spoofing: Dictionary.com carries a the following definition for the word ‘spoof‘:

to fool by a hoax; play a trick on, especially one intended to deceive.

Spoofing is a term that IT professionals use to describe a myriad of technological deceptions. Browser Spoofing, where the user gets a browser to pretend it is some other browser, is one of the more common types. Here, we are talking about Caller ID Spoofing, which is a trick is played to make you think that the number on the text message is the number that sent it.

Image via Wikipedia

Voice Over IP: Have you ever used Skype, or had a telephone call over the internet? Well, this will have been underpinned by a collection of communications protocols called Voice-Over-IP (or VOIP for short). To use VOIP, you generally register with a provider (like Skype) who will give you an account with a dedicated number which will allow you to connect to their service.

Using that VOIP account, your voice  is sent over the internet to the recipient at the other end. In addition to this, it will carry information about the account you are using, specifically, your Caller ID (see above). It is this Caller ID that can be spoofed, and there are numerous applications out there that will let you do this (see Caller ID Spoofing w/ Asterisk).

The difficulty in doing this lies with finding an appropriate provider that will let you use an ID they have not allocated to you. This is tricky in countries that have more mature technological infrastructure and legislation, but much easier in developing counties. India and Eastern Europe are considered hotbeds for this sort of activity.

The spoofing of text (SMS) message sender numbers presents a much smaller hurdle for a would-be spammer to overcome. SMS messages can be sent directly through an SMS Gateway without the need for a mobile phone. An SMS gateway is an opening to the SMS universe. It provides a way of sending a text message with or without using a mobile phone. There are dozens of SMS Gateway Providers, many of which allow the message to originate from the internet (these can be seen by looking at ‘Web-To-SMS Gateway‘ column in the list on the previous link)

To demonstrate how easy it is, you can send an email through the gateway to arrive as an SMS on your phone. This site describes how to do this, and also allows you to send a text to your phone directly from a web page.  These providers will be much less rigorous on in enforcing correct Caller-ID notification.

So, how easy is it for a company to put all this in place? The answer is, ‘very’ – you can get someone else to do it for you. Freelancer.co.uk, a small-projects outsourcing marketplace contains projects (see here, here and here) for people setup this very infrastructure with asking prices varying around the range £100 to £2000. Even the latter of these two is a not a significant outlay when compared to the ‘rewards’ that the spammer will reap.

Comment

The human impact of all is the first and most important consideration. It is no accident that appropriate precedence has been accredited by discussing at the very first instance. However, there are other factors worthy of note.

Very much secondary to the human impact (but still relevant) is the economic one. In a time of austerity, where the everyday person is being squeezed for every penny, the presence of parasitic debt management companies only serves to syphon more money from the economy.

Economists sometimes talk about Marginal Propensity to Consume. Put simply this, means that the richer you are, the smaller proportion of your wealth you are likely to spend. Any extra income received by the less affluent will be noticed, appreciated and most likely spent, whilst the richer are less likely to notice it, and less likely to subsequently feed it back into the economy.

Image via Wikipedia

When bogus debt management companies take money from the very poorest, and line their own pockets, they, in effectively suck money from the economy. When times are hard, so they will seek to keep them hard.

Legislation against this sort of practice is essential. The United States has introduced legislation to make the spoofing of caller-ids illegal. It is something called the Truth in Caller ID Act, and more information can be found in this article and this article. Caller ID spoofing has a much broader implication than simply these spam marketing tactics. It has also been complicit in facilitating prank calls, attempted privacy invasions and phishing attacks.

There is concern that the Truth In Caller ID Act penalises those that use these techniques legitimately, for example, businesses that would like to present common call centre number when calling, regardless of the internal extension from which their operator may be calling. For me is this is easily solved by adding a clause that allows firms to demonstrate their use of Caller ID spoofing is legitimate.

Any legislative changes in this area should encompass SMS gateway providers as well as network operators.

In addition, I would suggest the following legislative and regulatory changes:

1) Make illegal the practice of marketing by cold calling and spam text messaging.

2) Large batches of numbers can only be bought and sold by licensed and regulated operatives.

3) Make it illegal for anyone to charge up-front for helping to resolve debt.

4) Make it illegal for anyone to charge more than a certain percentage for managing an individual’s debt, and make it illegal for any debt resolution fees to be paid as a lump sump as the burden of the debt.

5) For all debt management companies, rigorously enforce the principle of Treating Customers Fairly (TCF). Force the companies to recommend that individuals seek free, impartial and independent debt advice. Also, enforce Money Laundering compliance and checking, and the provision of documented Data Protection training for all staff working at these companies. Fundamentally, bring these organisations under the most scrutinous rigors of the Financial Services Authority.

That’s It!

I hope you have found this interesting/informative/both. Feel free to comment or correct.