Autotrader 07079 number scam - easy to miss!

[Sarah_W]

Having phoned a few people about cars recently I just got my mobile bill - 30 minutes worth of calls one evening and £30 of charges :-O

It turns out that Autotrader encourages sellers to sign up to a premium rate number service and then make a fortune from this, but the premium rate numbers start 07079 so look just like a nomrla mobile number

Be warned! I now have to resort to emailing sellers to get a normal number to discuss cars of interest. A bit of a joke.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/editorial/common/ola/w...

[jas xjr]

but what has this got to do with property?

[300bhp/ton]

Sarah_W said:

Having phoned a few people about cars recently I just got my mobile bill - 30 minutes worth of calls one evening and £30 of charges :-O

It turns out that Autotrader encourages sellers to sign up to a premium rate number service and then make a fortune from this, but the premium rate numbers start 07079 so look just like a nomrla mobile number

Be warned! I now have to resort to emailing sellers to get a normal number to discuss cars of interest. A bit of a joke.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/editorial/common/ola/w...

Is this legal??

It shouldn't be, it's really a form of theft, deceptions and I daresay fraud......

[Garlick]

Its not unusual, nor illegal.

PH offers sellers the opportunity to use 'phonesafe' too, as do many other classifieds sites. It stops your number being made publicly available online but the onus is in the advertiser to give callers their real number as soon as the connection is made.

Most of the charges actually come from the mobile providers once connection is made.

[rpguk]

Semi-legitimate scam.

070 numbers are 'personal' numbers rather then mobile numbers. They can cost a lot more to call and don't usually come out of your minutes allowance.

However they are not classed as premium rate numbers either so don't fall under the strict conditions required for them. A grey area legally.

[Sarah_W]

jas xjr said:

but what has this got to do with property?

:-)

The annoying thing is that they don't advertise it's a premium rate number and at £1 a minute from a mobile it's pretty hefty to call. I thought all 07 numbers were mobiles, so didn't think twice about calling it.

Having said this though, I'd love to have one of these numbers myself that I could give to those pesky marketing and internet sales sites that sell off your details. I could do with the £1 a minute commission when they call me :-)

[Mr Will]

Autotrader were charging you 25ppm to call that number, how much was your mobile phone company charging on top of that? Perhaps it is them you should be complaining about.

just for reference, if I call an 0870 number on my mobile (should be 5.9ppm) Vodafone charges me 35ppm. If I call an 0800 number (i.e. "free") they still charge me 20ppm. They also refuse to take these calls out of my generous amount of unused minutes, meaning there are always several pounds worth of charges on my bill.

/rant

[ShadownINja]

You mean some people think 07079 are mobile numbers?