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| 08.04.09 070 Number Scammers Get Hit Hard from PhonePayPlus | 
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PhonePayPlus who punishes those who exploit the personal 070 number range have over the last few days fined rogue 070 number providers over £1 million pounds. One of these adjudications can be found below.
| Service Provider  | Speedreview Limited |
| Information Provider | N/A |
| Service Name | 070 Unknown Missed Calls |
| Breaches upheld against | Speedreview Limited |
| Procedure | Standard |
| Summary   PhonepayPlus received 13 consumer complaints regarding the receipt of unsolicited calls to personal landlines or mobiles. Complainants had received calls from one or more of the many 070 prefixed numbers which had been allocated to the service provider. The complainants were consistent in claiming that the call they received terminated after one ring. This prompted consumers to return the call whilst being unaware that the number called was not a mobile number and would incur higher rate charges. The vast majority of complainants who returned the call indicated that they were connected to a recording of a ringing tone. Â
PhonepayPlus formed the view that the service operating on the 070 prefixed numbers was a regulated premium rate service as it satisfied the criteria set out in both section 120(7) of the Communications Act 2003 and paragraph 2(e) of the Premium Rate Services Condition as published by Ofcom in December 2003 (as amended in April 2007).   The following breaches of the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice 11th Edition (amended April 2008) were raised:
The Tribunal concluded that the service was a premium rate service and upheld all of the above breaches. The Tribunal considered the case to be very serious, issued a formal reprimand and imposed a fine of £150,000.  The Tribunal also ordered that claims for refunds are to be paid by the service provider for the full amount spent by users, except where there is good cause to believe that such claims are not valid. |
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