I AM a retiree in my mid-70s who uses the computer. Last month,
while I was surfing the Net, a pop-up appeared that refused to
disappear even when I clicked on the 'close' icon. It said I had
won a MacBook, then asked for my mobile phone number. I did as
instructed just to get the message to go away.
What followed was a quiz and I assumed that by answering the
questions, the pop-up nuisance would disappear.
Instead, quiz upon quiz followed and after answering seven, I
became suspicious and switched off my computer. I later realised
why the quizzes never stopped. Each quiz cost $3 and was charged to
my mobile phone bill. Subsequently, I found out that the sender was
Glomobi SMS trivia quizzes.
SingTel, collecting on behalf of the sender, sent me a bill for
$21. When I related what had happened, SingTel agreed to waive $18,
but the first call at $3 would be charged to me.
I also received a discourteous call from Glomobi saying that as
I had agreed to subscribe to the service, it would not waive the
charges.
The next day, Glomobi SMSed me to say it had unsubscribed me,
but as far as I was aware, I did not subscribe to the quiz and did
not know I would be charged for replies to the quiz questions.
For an elderly retiree, $3 is a significant fee, but what I also
felt was unfair was that I should have been clearly informed of the
charges.
To me, the way such fees are charged to phone subscribers is
wrong and the regulating authority should examine these practices
more closely.
Peter Lau