Small businesses warned of premium rate phone line scam

A leading business pressure group has been alerted to a premium rate phone line scam that could trick businesses into paying out a hefty bill for accessing adult chat lines. February has been designated ‘Scam Awareness Month’ by the Office of Fair Trading, so the Forum of Private Business (FPB) is warning all businesses to be on their guard against this particular scam.

Jane Davies, FPB Member Contact Manager, was alerted to the scam by member Graham Calvert, whose company received a bill for £64.95, accompanied by threats of a County Court Judgement being levied against the company for non-payment, for a phone call he knew nothing about.

"Businesses can block access to premium rate phone lines, which usually start with an 090 code, quite easily,’ said Ms Davies, "yet with this scam the number began with a standard rate 020 code, which meant access could not be blocked. The first demand for payment Mr Calvert’s company received suggested that two previous letters had been sent from Telecom Billing Services (TBS) Ltd for £34.95 and had been ignored. Mr Calvert never received either letter and the first he knew of it was when a letter was sent to his business informing him that the outstanding debt, which had by then increased to £64.95, had been passed on to a debt collection agency, Persolvo Debt Collection Ltd."

Graham Calvert, Managing Director of Howarine Calvert Ltd said, "Having checked with my staff, I am confident that none of them actually made a call to TBS, yet somehow TBS has managed to get hold of our business number in order to bill the company for the call.

“For many business owners, the fact that an adult chat line has been accessed from their business is a huge embarrassment and many are loathe to challenge the bill as a consequence. When this is allied to the fear of being taken to court, it is little wonder that many businesses decide to just pay up. But they shouldn’t."

"Business owners should ensure that they have taken steps to prevent employees from accessing premium rate phone lines,’ said Ms Davies. "As this particular case illustrates, though, even when they have taken measures to block premium rate numbers, there is still a chance that they could be caught out. The FPB advises business owners to carefully monitor employees’ telephone use in an effort to avoid falling foul of scams like this."

Liberal Democrat MP Vince Cable has criticised the fact that Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, appears powerless to prevent this particular scam. He claims that companies such as TBS are taking advantage of a loophole in the current law that prevents 020 numbers from being regulated under the ICSTIS, Independent Committee of Standards of Telephone Services, controls.

The FPB has contacted both Trading Standards and ICSTIS regarding its concerns about the service and have learned that TBS is not actually doing anything illegal under current legislation and it is therefore up to the individual business owner to pursue the matter through legal channels.