Follow-up: Ericsson Telecommunications Sam Media Services

As an update to the Ericsson Telecommunications Services scam, I recently received a VERY long email from IDA, after I emailed them about ETS on 4 July.

Taking almost 2 months to reply an email doesn't seem very efficient to me. I wasn't expecting a fantastic reply. And I was not too far from my guess. Bascially, it explains how Coco activated the $6-per-sms 'value-added service' (which I don't even care) and that ETS had cancelled my unbilled charges of $30 (which I already know) as well as educating me on how I could have prevented the same incident from happening again (which I had considered before giving her an iPhone, duh).

The reply:

Dear Ms X

We refer to your email feedback. We apologise for the late reply as we needed time to look into your case.

We have checked with the service provider in question. This service is actually provided by Sam Media Pte Ltd (“Sam Media”). The service mentioned in your email is a premium rate service (“PRS”). PRSes are value-added services provided over the public telecommunications network, and can include quizzes, ringtones and games. While IDA does not prohibit operators from offering PRSes to the public, we do require PRS providers, like Sam Media, to comply with a PRS Code in order to ensure that consumers’ interests are protected. The PRS Code imposes certain obligations on PRS providers such as the requirement for PRS providers not to charge consumers for unsolicited services, to provide clear and complete information to consumers, and to allow consumers to unsubscribe from their PRSes. IDA views these requirements very seriously and should we find any PRS provider in breach of the PRS Code, IDA will not hesitate to intervene accordingly. If you would like more information on our PRS Code, you may wish to refer to the following link on the IDA website: http://www.ida.gov.sg/Policies%20and%20Regulation/20070508145556.aspx.

In your case, the PRS provided by Sam Media was for a mobile java game download service. Sam Media informed IDA that in order to subscribe for the service, an end-user would have to enter his mobile number on the web advertisement (http://ad.mozzi.biz/index.php?data=SG_AA1_V1.swf&adscode=sg_aa1_sem_tlv&affid=TLV&sem=Y&type=NM) and agree to the terms and conditions “Yes, I am at least 18 years old and agree to the T&C. I understand I will receive 2sms/wk at $6 each till quit Sam Media would then send an SMS to the end user with instructions for the end-user to send an SMS with the keyword “AA1” to Sam Media’s short code number 77877 to confirm his subscription of the service. Only upon receiving the end-user’s SMS with the keyword “AA1”, would Sam Media then send a confirmation SMS to indicate the end-users’ weekly subscription of the service, followed by a WAP push link to the end-user. The service is chargeable at $6 per SMS sent by Sam Media; 2 SMS will be sent per week. The service is a subscription service and will be provided on an ongoing basis until the subscriber un-subscribes from the service.

We have reviewed Sam Media’s web advertisement and we found that Sam Media had indicated clearly the charges, terms and conditions and the frequency of receiving the SMSes. Sam Media had also provided a local customer service hotline (68808590) for customers to call if they need more information on the service. We have also reviewed Sam Media’s SMS logs and we note that an SMS with the relevant “AA1” keyword was sent by mobile number 65XXXXXXXX (Coco's number) to Sam Media’s short code on 27 May 2011. The PRS has since been cancelled and mobile number 65XXXXXXXX (Coco's number) blocked from accessing Sam Media’s services in future. Regarding the charges, Sam Media has reviewed your case and is agreeable to providing a full waiver for the $30 incurred. The refund would be reflected in your mobile service bill.

Regarding your query below, IDA has imposed requirements on PRS providers to ensure that they put in measures to require end users to take multiple steps to subscribe for a service, to avoid accidental subscriptions. For cases where children are the users of mobile phones, we would normally advise parents to educate their children on the need to understand the prices, terms and conditions of the mobile service before sending in any request or confirmation for service purchase. We have also advised parents to consider using pre-paid mobile service for their children instead, in order to afford great control over their children’s usage of mobile phone services.

To further protect consumers, we have also recently introduced new consumer protection measures in the area of PRS, where we have required mobile operators to introduce a PRS barring service that users can opt-in to, so that they can neither subscribe nor receive any chargeable PRS, and more importantly not be billed for them moving forward. We expect the mobile operators to offer this service by the first quarter of 2012. We have also stepped up the penalty framework to target errant PRS providers, whereby they will face heavier financial penalties with repeat offenders having their licenses suspended or cancelled. We are also in the midst of reviewing the PRS Code following feedback from consumers. Taken together, we hope that these measures can further protect consumers.

We hope the above clarifies. Thank you for your feedback.

Best Regards
Kimmi Goh (Ms)
Executive
Corporate Helpdesk
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA)
Tel: 6211 0888
F: 6211 2222
E: info@ida.gov.sg
W: http://www.ida.gov.sg/


As for M1, I had scrutinised my phone bills for June through August to check if they had honoured their promises of waiving the charges that were billed.

I noticed that there was a waiver of $21 and $24 for the months of June and July respectively, but I was expecting another $21 waiver for the month of June.

Being a number- and techno-phobic, I decided to cut my pain short and call up M1 again to ask if they had waived the charges. The reply was that the last customer service agent had 'overlooked' the waiver and they would do it in the next bill.

So, the waiver IS possible. If I had been a lamb quietly led to the slaughter, I would have ended up paying $90 ($21+$21+$24+$30) for a so-called value-added service!

Moral of the story? The world is a kinder place if you are aggressive enough (reads: difficult).