On 24/05/11 at 17:03 I received a text message from a number - 88101.
The text read:
FreeMsg>Ur Topquiz membership is live, U can win £300 CASH, question coming soon. Play costs just £1.50/month. To cancel text STOP to 88101 Help? 08432894723
Now there are a number of issues with this:
1- I did not and have never subscribed for Topquiz membership.
2 - There was a risk I could be charged £1.50 to my mobile account.
3 - I had to pay to text 88101 to unsubscribe from something to which I had never signed up.
4 - My mobile network Orange, said there was nothing they could do and basically it was my issue.
5 - The Telephone Preference Service and Ofcom are powerless to get involved in the sending and receiving of unsolicited texts.
Upon further investigation I have found that the company who own the SMS short code 88101 is a company called Oxygen 8 Communications based in Birmingham. When I spoke with them on the number given by Orange which was 0844 4480 700, the advisor informed me he would pass the details on to the company who sent the text using their short code and they would contact me. Nothing has been received. Below is a picture of what the message looked like.
AS CONSUMERS WE ARE UNPROTECTED AGAINST THESE COMPANIES. IF YOU'VE HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCE THEN PLEASE POST SO THAT HOPEFULLY SOMEONE CAN TAKE NOTICE.
Oxygen 8 can be contacted via:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.oxygen8.com/
Also on 0844 4480 700 which is the number given to me by Orange.
I too have been receiving unsolicited texts from 88101. I spoke to my service provider (orange) who told me they would refund the £1.50 I was charged for receiving a text as a 'one off'. They too gave me the Customer Services Number for Oxygen8 which is charged out at 13p per minute on the landline. God knows how much on a mobile!
ReplyDeleteI also have an email address to contact them
customercare.uk@oxygen8.com
Orange informed me that they can't bar the number from texting me. On calls can be barred. I have emailed the Oxygen8 asking them to remove me from their database (as yet, no reply).
Despite James comment about Ofcom being powerless to get involved in the sending and receiving of unsolicited texts, I shall contact them myself to see how this can be resolved.
Mike
I am also concerned that it seems to be Orange again. Do Orange receive money for releasing numbers of customers?
ReplyDeleteI have had the same problem.
ReplyDeleteLast month i was charged 1.50 for a text that was sent to me. i phoned Orange and complained they told me to do nothing and everything will stop. they refunded me 1.50. this month the same happened so i again phoned Orange. they now told me to text STOP ALL to 88101 and will cost me 10p. they refunded me 150 off next bill. If i get another message next month i will cancel my contract with Orange and change my number and start a case on this matter . these companies need to be shot… this i know is ilegal but what they are doing is also ilegal……
I have just finished a call to Vodafone, asking them why have I been charged for text messages from the same company as above, only the number is 60133 and a charge of £3:75 for a text. I phoned the number as above and was put through to another company, who never answered the phone; have been overcharged for that call as well? I am now seething with anger, that I can be charged for something uninvited and Vodafone wont do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteSo Ive jus come off the fone with vodafone askin why my bill is so high, and low n behold its thanks to oxygen 8 £4.50 a txt they send me when I haven't knowingly subscribed and continue to recieve after txtin stop all to various numbers. So if we can make others aware and stop it happening again I'll do what I can to help.
ReplyDeleteI have been charged £5 last month and not sure what is for, only ref i was given on my bill from Orange (surprise surprise). Phone them up and all they could say was that i have texted 83838 to MBNA for credit card balance and therefore i have subscribed to something which is total bag of bull's crap. They gave me email address where i could email, but dont think that anyone is going to reply. there is also tel number where you can call try to sort that shit out. Its so annoying.
ReplyDeleteMy young son's phone has been spammed with filth from this company (see hot babes naked, or something along those lines) completely unsolicited, of course. This has been going on since July but he didn't think to mention it or send stop to the required number, but just deleted the message.
ReplyDeleteThese parasites should be stopped by the phone companies themselves, as they are the ones receiving the angry calls.
Perhaps someone with a little more aptitude with facebook than myself could set up a page alerting the masses to this ridiculous con.
I have received a message from oxygen8 charging me £10 one of 4 MESSAGES from this company, when I contacted orange they had informed me that someone has purchased a DVD from this number.... I didn't even know this was possible!!! Orange wont even f
ReplyDeletedo any thing about it I've been charged over £30 and they wont even send me a bill out saying I'll have to look online!! My bill now totals £210 due to their neglect on this matter!!!
I have just discovered A$40 in charges from this company, which I have never even heard of! My old mobile stopped working a few months ago, but my last 2 bills have these $40 charges! I have no idea who they are!!! I tried calling them, but they said that there is no consultant to speak to me! Am furious!
ReplyDeleteI also have been robbed by oxygen8 by £4.60 with a 88833 number totally pissed off
ReplyDeleteI also have been robbed by oxygen8 by £4.60 with a 88833 number totally pissed off
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ReplyDeleteoh wow so many strong comments. I only know oxygen 8 to provide a premium text line service, so for example,
ReplyDelete"To Vote for Paul to win text VOTE PAUL to 644*8" and then what happens is,
the person who sends the text to vote WILL get charged e.g £1.50!
& the mobile phone provider will receive a percentage of the £1.50, but the company who set that text service up will receive MAJORITY of the £1.50!
(also the customer gets charged the set £1.50 fee, and depending on which network the customer texts from depends on how much the person who set up the text service will receive, as each mobile provider have different payout rates e.g orange 37p, t-mobile 37p, virgin 60p, Vodafone 53p etc) & oxygen 8 does not get paid from any of this money, they get paid from, the monthly cost they charge the person to open the text service.
hope that helps, as someone asked do the phone companies get paid from it, YES THEY DO.
What a load of shit it's a scam plain and simple
DeleteFor more information on the service you have used please contact our customer care team at customercare.uk@oxygen8.com. Further information on phone paid services can be found at http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/for-consumers/faqs
ReplyDeleteexcuse me, but i know for sure i havent used your service, and most of these guys here too probably the same! yiuve been wrongly taking money off my bill every month (15quid!) totalling £116,75 from feb 2016 to oct 2016... disgusting and im in communication with Phone Pay Plus/Ofcom...
DeleteI too have been stung by oxygen8 @ 4.50 per text message sent to me, in total last month with virgin 27.00 was charges making my bill 42.00 instead of 15.00 monthly rolling contract, its hard to believe they bypass your security password to add charges, the number i was given by phonepayplus was 08082060808 + also another company called eyegame which was a 87066 text and they're number was 03332020428 charging 4.50 a text, my bill then went up to 71.00 in x3days, byebye virginmobile!!!
ReplyDeleteI too have been stung by oxygen8 @ 4.50 per text message sent to me, in total last month with virgin 27.00 was charges making my bill 42.00 instead of 15.00 monthly rolling contract, its hard to believe they bypass your security password to add charges, the number i was given by phonepayplus was 08082060808 + also another company called eyegame which was a 87066 text and they're number was 03332020428 charging 4.50 a text, my bill then went up to 71.00 in x3days, byebye virginmobile!!!
ReplyDeleteMy son is being charged by this oxygen 8 place, he assures me he did not subscribe to anything. Now I've tried the text saying stop to the 88101 and a couple of other numbers as well but still I've been charged £4.50 for this week. I tried calling them now but they're not open on a Sunday! O2 also say there is nothing they can do to stop it! I think this is so wrong from the mobile companies considering the amount we pay them every month. If anyone has any suggestions I'd really appreciate it. Thank u in advance
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has some experience. I just phoned her mobile company and they help block this number and I hope it works.
ReplyDeleteI am struggling to believe that this thread was started in 2011, and now in 2015 this company is still getting away with this sort of behaviour. Their website boasts a massive £90 million in revenue annually, I wonder how much of this is legitimately made. The whole premium rate service idea should be regulated far more harshly. I am also currently in dispute with Oxygen8 a Premium rate service which I did not sign up to. O2 have given me a number to contact, and have kindly blocked any more payments (we will see in 10days if this was successful). Anyone recieving these should make it their life goal to destroy this company, I know its now mine!!!
ReplyDeleteI have been also scammed £16 by Oxygen 8. Never heard of them till O2 gave me a number for me to ring them to claim a refund. Rang them on 5 occasions answermachine which says if we have charged you leave your number and we will contact you within 2 days. On the 4 times i contacted them needless to say they didnt. Got back to O2 who promised to claim a refund on my behalf and would get back to me within 5 working days. That was 8 working days ago. I am still waiting. Oxygen 8 put my phone bill up to £32 instead of £15. I am a disabled 70 yr old pensioner i am struggling to pay bills as it is. Surely Oxygen 8 whoever they are cant get away with this forever. I am livid.
DeleteI have been also scammed £16 by Oxygen 8. Never heard of them till O2 gave me a number for me to ring them to claim a refund. Rang them on 5 occasions answermachine which says if we have charged you leave your number and we will contact you within 2 days. On the 4 times i contacted them needless to say they didnt. Got back to O2 who promised to claim a refund on my behalf and would get back to me within 5 working days. That was 8 working days ago. I am still waiting. Oxygen 8 put my phone bill up to £32 instead of £15. I am a disabled 70 yr old pensioner i am struggling to pay bills as it is. Surely Oxygen 8 whoever they are cant get away with this forever. I am livid.
DeleteI am struggling to believe that this thread was started in 2011, and now in 2015 this company is still getting away with this sort of behaviour. Their website boasts a massive £90 million in revenue annually, I wonder how much of this is legitimately made. The whole premium rate service idea should be regulated far more harshly. I am also currently in dispute with Oxygen8 a Premium rate service which I did not sign up to. O2 have given me a number to contact, and have kindly blocked any more payments (we will see in 10days if this was successful). Anyone recieving these should make it their life goal to destroy this company, I know its now mine!!!
ReplyDeleteit is all to apparent how deplorable and unjust this this company is, it needs to be taken down with immediate effect, i have got a bill of 18.00 for 4 purchases at £4.50, i cant recall entering a quiz or downloading any porn at all, but do remember a message to cancel these texts would cost me £1.50. this company entraps you , so either way they are making money. discusting. so angery
ReplyDeleteMy son's been charged over £100 in five months. The STOP message cost £18.75. O2 say they cant block premium rate providers even if they are known scams -pathetic. I'm now taking it up through http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/ as suggested by O2. I will also be writing to my MP. I would suggest others do the same. If MPs get enough flack they do try to sort these things out.
ReplyDeletei have been charged £40 for no reason, i dont know this oxygen8 company. i am with three(3) and they have done this to me is past and i think they are also involved in this because they take their percentage from them.. how can someone charge me without my permission
ReplyDeleteI today received my bill from 3 mobile which showed a charge of £5.36 for unsolicited messages from Oxygen8 plus a 10p charge for sending them a stop message. I contacted 3 mobile who said it was not there problem but to contact Oxygen8. I have sent the an email and will phone them on Monday 8th Feb and tell them to credit my account. If I have no joy I will cancile my contract with 3 mobile for selling my number to marketing companies without my permission.
ReplyDeleteDecent blog and completely remarkable. You can improve yet despite everything I say this perfect.Keep striving generally advantageous. Bulk SMS Pune
ReplyDeleteThe same thing has been happening me for months I think I've been charged £60 in total.. I rang the company number which 02 gave me and asked for a refund they said I had to send an email requesting the refund and why.. 2 months later I'm still waiting. I'm so angry.. does anyone know if trading standards could help????
ReplyDeleteI have never checked my bill as ive had three phones connected to my account.Im now sim only and wondered what the £6 charge was i phoned tesco mobile and they told me id subscribed to oxygen8 to which i have never.They checked back and ive actually be paying £1.50 a week for over a year ive phoned them today and answer machine after answer machine.I feel that that have stolen money from me as ive never subscribed to them. My service provider has blocked premium rate numbers from my account but until these C**** unsubscribe me they will not be able to cancel the subscription
ReplyDeleteThe same thing has happened to me,i was charged £4-50for each message,4 all together,didn,t have a clue till my virgin bill came in,i,m a senior citizen and can't afford bills like this.Have had virgin activate account barred,and threatened to contact consumer watchdog,have not had a reply yet,its outrageous that our mobile providers can,t do zilch about it.
ReplyDeleteThe same thing has happened to me,i was charged £4-50for each message,4 all together,didn,t have a clue till my virgin bill came in,i,m a senior citizen and can't afford bills like this.Have had virgin activate account barred,and threatened to contact consumer watchdog,have not had a reply yet,its outrageous that our mobile providers can,t do zilch about it.
ReplyDelete£13.50 on my son's account vodafone won't do anything - even on my Vodafone services there is a bar that prevents donations and purchases from your phone - problem being vodafone will not let u activate it so what's the point in having the bar - have no blocked all premium and contacted oxtgen 8 getting automated voice leaving number to cancel - hopefully will be he end as boy is now upset as thinks he has done something wrong
ReplyDeleteI've had £60 taken out over 3 months, I kept getting 2 texts lunchtime every Friday, went onto my phone account (3) & discovered what was happening. £60 stolen.
ReplyDeleteI am with EE and I have been charged on my latest bill for 3 texts at £3.75p each from 700046078 which I am informed is Oxygen8 I am taking further action as this is undoubtedly a criminal scam as I have never ever heard of Oxygen8, let alone subscribed to them for anything on my Samsung Galaxy phone. EE were not helpful on the telephone so a personal visit to a branch will be made.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Vodafone and had a charge of £4.62 added to my Vodafone account for 'out of bundle charges'in July. Further investigation led me to Oxygen 8. Vodafone said that I had unwittingly subscribed to a service and had incurred a charge of £4.50 plus 12p for a text. I never subscribed to this service and Vodafone eventually credited my account with £5.00 and I was told that a barr had been put on my account so that I could not unwittingly subscribe to such services in the future. The next month: August, I was charged £14.09 for out of bundle charges again there is a connection with Oxygen8.I have written to the CEO of Vodafone but he is now ignoring my Emails.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a problem with this scam, contact CEO Vodafone UK: Jeroen Hoencamp on 01635 33251, Email:jeroen.hoencamp@vodafone.com
Phone companies need to be held responsible for protecting their clients from these scams. Don't pay the charges. You can't queery a bill once it has been paid.
Sigh.... just discovered I have been ripped off to the tune of £81 over 3 months by these shitbags. Vodafone tell me I will be getting a refund within a week (from Oxygen8) will let all know if I do. I cannot believe the mobile companies are allowing their customers to be robbed like this, you would have thought they or Ofcom would have sorted this out.
ReplyDeleteThey took £27 from me. Said I'd subscribed to a quiz at £4.50 a week when I called them. I said I'd complain about it. " good luck with that" they said Phones Three who gave me a website to check. Was t called ombudsman but was that sort of thing. Phoned them and told them about the emails and phone calls I had. Didn't hear anything for about 6 weeks then Oxygen8 emailed asking for my bank details and I got a full refund so it's worth trying
ReplyDeleteJust checked a s it was Phonepayplus I contacted and they got my money back. I recommend everyone contacts them. The number can be found by googling them
ReplyDeleteJust traced £45 of premium SMS taken from my daughter's mobile by Oxygen8. The director and major share holder of the company is Mr Gary John Corbett. His twitter is @GaryCorbett4 and you can also find him on LinkedIn.
ReplyDeleteSame here took out Vodafone monthly for £20 now a bill of £40 a month with oxygen 8 charges which is £116 they now ripped me off. Time to cancel my direct debit I think contract is not what I signed for.
ReplyDeleteTotal ripoff Vodafone my £20 a month bill is now £40 oxygen8 time to cancel my contract I think it's not what I signed up to.
ReplyDeleteTell you what I did. I stopped my direct debit with ee and paid by cheque. Regardless of what my monthly bill demanded I only ever paid for the services that I had actually used. I refused point blank to pay for any unauthorised charges. ee didn't like that of course and kicked off big time threatening me with legal action etc.
ReplyDeleteBut after I told them to `bring it on' they backed down.
The fact is they are the ones who are taking the money. If they choose to pass it on to a third party having been told not to then it's their responsibility not yours. You are not liable for a service that you have not subscribed to. Even if fraudulent means have been used to obtain it. And in spite of what many telecommunication companies may claim they can identify and block a third party.
Be sure to let customer services know in advance of your intentions and never refuse to pay for what you legitimately owe them.
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ReplyDeleteText Message Marketing
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ReplyDelete3rd March 2018 charged £1.50 for receipt of a premium rate text, virgin have blocked the number for me - 700034193 and advised they will give me a refund
ReplyDeleteI have been stung to the tune of £500 over the past 12 months by this company and had my EE account placed into default over refusing to pay. I have reported this to the Paid Phone services authority and am shocked to hear this scam has continued on since 2010.
ReplyDeleteI just found out that I am a victim of this scam. My provider is O2 who also shirk responsibility and give you details for Oxygen8. They also say they can't bar the number from my phone. Why is this still allowed?
ReplyDeleteI just found out that I am a victim of this scam
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete15th of September 2019 I received a message from them. I didn't think too much of it... I've recently gone from a £47 a month contract to a £20 a month sim only deal. However, I noticed my new bill was over £45. I enquired about it and was told this 'Oxygen8 company' who messaged me on a 81618 Number was the culprit.
ReplyDelete"For yr latest in-home guide to transforming your health, fitness and happiness visit feelgoodwizard.com/login. help@feelgoodwizard. Com"
This is the message I received above.
I've emailed this company at customer customercare.uk@oxygen8.com but I very much doubt I will get my money back after reading all of these messages. Right back to 2011 - I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS "COMPANY" IS GETTING AWAY WITH ROBBING PEOPLE BLIND STILL!!!!!!!!
Corrupt! corrupt! corrupt!
i have just found out i have been charged £1.50 8 times totalling £12, i have emailed them and hoping for a reply. i didn't sign up to anything as its a mobile broadband sim so i wouldn't know how anyway. going into three tomorrow to get it sorted
ReplyDeleteI had same problem, my advice is to put a cap on your account that stops them from taking the money
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