Two firms have been fined £100,000 each after they ran competitions on websites which exploited typing errors –
with names such as wikapedia.com and twtter.com – and then charged consumers for receiving text message
updates.
Premium rate services regulator PhonepayPlus found that the two companies – R&D Media Europe and Unavalley BV, both operating out of the Netherlands – misled consumers into entering the competitions through the practice of ‘typosquatting’.
Consumers who mistyped web addresses for Twitter, YouTube and Wikipedia and instead visited sites including wikapedia.com and twtter.com were informed that they had won or could win prizes such as iPads and Mac Books, the regulator said. The landing pages on the squatted sites looked like the genuine sites and used the same logos, colouring and fonts.
To claim their prize or enter consumers were given the impression that all they had to do was enter contact details, including their mobile phone number. Consumers who entered their number then received a PIN code to enter the competitions on the websites. However, the consumers were charged when they received text messages asking quiz or survey questions and were also charged if they answered.
A PhonepayPlus Tribunal ruled that neither company had provided clear information about their pricing and had misled consumers in breach of the rules PRS providers must adhere to.
The regulator also advised the public to treat their mobile phone like a bank card and to only enter their number online if they are prepared to “subscribe to a particular mobile service or wish to be contacted”. The public should “always check the small print for conditions and pricing information before entering your mobile number online,” it said.
