ICSTIS has been forced to call in the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) after being hit with a surge in complaints.
According to ICSTIS, some of these complaints may be due to software programs called diallers that have been secretly downloaded onto their machines.
Diallers are downloaded onto Web users' computers to allow access to pay-per-view sites, such as porn sites, but it appears they are being installed without users' knowledge and are running up large bills by connecting to premium-rate telephone lines.
The percentage of Internet-related complaints about premium-rate services has risen from 43 percent in 2002 to 70 percent in 2003, as a proportion of customers making complaints about high telephone bills, according to ICSTIS.
However, when ICSTIS investigates these complaints, it often finds that the companies concerned appear to be conforming to ICSTIS' standards, according to Suhil Baht, policy advisor at ICSTIS. This has led the regulator to turn to the NHTCU.
"If it's only a few cases, then we can put it down to the husband or kids not admitting to surfing porn, but if 300 customers are saying the same thing about one company, then we can't ignore it," said Baht. "We can't work out what the problem is, so have recently started talking to the Hi-Tech Crime Unit so they can do a criminal investigation."
A spokesperson for the NHTCU confirmed that it is in the "early stages of the investigation". One possible cause being examined is Trojan viruses installing diallers onto the computers of unsuspecting users.
"While online, the Trojan will drop your current Internet connection and reconnect you to a premium rate line. It can then change your Internet settings so that the premium-rate dialler is used as a default," said the spokesperson.
This problem is restricted to users connecting to the Internet by dial-up and can be avoided by using antivirus software, according to the NHTCU. BT has an advisory on its Web site telling customers how to avoid premium-rate dial-up scams.
Users who would like to complain about a premium-rate service provider can complain online at the ICSTIS Web site.
The problem of dial-up scams is unlikely to be resolved in the near future. The NHTCU has admitted that it is not giving the problem its full attention yet because it is concentrating its efforts on dealing with phishing crime.
Talkback
What I fail to understand is if BT have taken money incorrectly from telephone accounts and paid it to these scam merchants bank accounts - why do individuals have to recover it from the scam merchants when we have no details or means of contacting them??
I too have had a problem in July 2004 with a Premium Rate dialer somehow being installed without my knowledge and it them diverting me to a premium line for 1 hour costing me over £60.. I tried to colplain to ICSTIS on line but the will not accept complaints, I have written to them but they have not replied. B.T. at long last are investigating.
i have been scammed by premium rate diallers connecting me to a spanish porn site.i have been charged 54 pounds for 4 calls made in the space of 2 weeks!i was unaware of this and feel helpless because bt said all i could do was report it to ictis.i did this but upon reading their site notice that it stated they cannot demand the scammers to repay your money! so whos gonna pay for it coz im not!
I too have fallen victim , to the grand sum of £153. I was told BT could do nothing but put a bar on premium charge numbers , ok , but who will pay my bill ?
I'm a McAfee viruscan subscriber and I use Wanadoo Anytime dialup. In spite of the so-called protection, I got the dialler and it dialled the premium rate number without me knowing. Both companies say it's my responsibility. Is there any accountability?
I'm an NTL customer and they are not interested, I was apparantly connected to a Spanish Porn Site without my knowlege and it's cost me £80.00. They told me to contact ICSTIS who would give me a reference number, they would then use this reference number to put a hold on the query part of my account. Icstis would not give me a number and so I had to pay the £80.00. Are we ever going to be able to get this back???
I have been billed £2700 for one premium rate phone call by BT made while I was away for a weekend by an outo dialler
that had been installed on my PC without my knowledge. The call lasted 27 hours and was eventually ended by BT.
My regular monthly BT bill is £23.00 - had this been my bank they would not have allowed such an unusual sum to have been incurred - BT on the otherhand have no such interest in protecting their customers from Fraud.
We are english living in Greece. Our eldest son downloaded free music and from then on each time we logged on to the net it was charged to a premium rate sex line. The bill was over 500 euros to be paid to ote the Greek telephone company. When we complained they said there is nothing they could do but we must pay up. This is a vicious crime on innocent people who cannot afford to pay. Our children now have to go without. Surely there must be someway international police can prosecute these evil villains. Being outside the UK who do we contact.
Yes I,m another victim and it happened in 1993 to the tune of £360+ I have a name and address of the low life who has caused this misery and have tried to get our hard earned money back without joy. I would like to know if anybody and there were 470 victims of this one low life if anybody was successful in getting there money back and they wont get us again and BT has been so unsimpathetic they have lost 4 customers in our household.