mBlox Complaints
If you have received charges on your wireless cellular phone bill from mBlox for mobile content (i.e., for ringtones, premium text messaging services, ring tones, joke a day programs, wallpaper, screensavers, text alerts, etc.) that you never authorized mBlox to bill you for, tell us your story!
–Report Unauthorized mBlox Cell Phone Charges–
mblox’s Website:
www.mblox.com
Who is mBlox?
mBlox’s website claims that m-Blox is the “world’s largest mobile transaction network. Specializing in global operator connectivity and mobile billing, we maintain connections to more than 500 mobile operators in 180+ countries through our carrier-grade network. mBlox enables businesses to deliver mobile services and content around the world and bill for them.”
Why Are There mBlox Charges On Your Cell Phone Bill?
According to mBlox “In most cases the actual content providers’ name will appear on your phone bill. However, in some instances the mBlox name may appear as well or it may be provided to you by your mobile operator. This occurs because the operators trust us to help maintain a well regulated mobile content industry and so we formed a contractual relationship with them whereby we deliver and bill for content on behalf of our clients.”
Contact mBlox
www.mblox.com/mblox/contactus/customer_support.asp
enquiries@mblox.com
1-408-617-3700
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–Report Unauthorized mBlox Cell Phone Charges–
AT&T is aiding and abetting the posting of spurious charges for services such as Mblox which costs as much as $29.99 per month.
If you call and ask for a Purchase Block to be put on the account, the trick AT&T uses to dissuade you from putting a Purchase Block is to say that “A Purchase Block will not stop people from sending you text messages to buy services”.
While that is true, you need to insist that they do put a Purchase Block.
I hope everyone who has been hit with this MBlox scam on AT&T Wireless complains to them and to their State Consumer Affairs dept. to put a stop to this.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
I recently had charges from Mblox on my phone for over $70.00. My cell phone company said that I need to contact who is charging me and which I have tried and nothing. The one thing that really got me was that the phone that is being charged has a block on it when it comes to internet, messaging, etc. And from what I understand, is that the company I go through for my service was recently bought by AT&T and up until than I never had any problems.
December 4th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Having chased my tail for 5 hours between AT&T, MBLOX, & Operatele to no avail I have decided to file a small claims lawsuit in my local Circuit Court. The way I figure it, for the amount they would have had to credit me, it’s going to cost them a bloody fortune in legal fees. If you call AT&T, they will say they have blocked the calls, only to find out next month that it didn’t happen. MBLOX will claim innocence saying they are only the data transfer company….and Operatele will flat tell you that they will do nothing…. you are going to keep getting billed. It’s going to cost $150.00 to sue all three…. and they will all have to send their lawyers to defend their companies…. Time will tell….but I WILL GET ALL OF MY MONEY!
January 24th, 2008 at 2:38 am
I suddenly started recieving text messages from 84300 saying “As specified in out terms and conditions when you apply, now we charge for these adverts, chargable text messages will be sent to your phone”!. I recieved seven of these from 2/1/08 - 8/1/08. When I recieved my phone bill, I discovered I had been charged £5 for each of these…Yes, approx $10 for each one. I did not request any service of this nature and contacted my mobile phone provider that said they can do nothing and gave me a premium 0871 Tel no to call (up to £1.50 per minute). I do not know how Mblox can do this for a start and also feel that my mobile phone provider should be able to do something about this as credit card companies do for fraudulent transactions. Has anybody else had this same problem from Mblox?
January 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I changed to vodafone £30 a month for 1000 texts and around 200 minutes calltime. I barely make phone calls anyway. However one month my bill was £162 and same sort of price the follwoing month..i though how on earth would have i used over and above this amount to such an extent? well when i investigated it, it was all from Mblox..most likely the best part of £130 each month though?! i was furious to say the least not only because of the charges but i do not remember ever ticking any box to recieve their junk or did it ever appear on my phone, so i never knew i had a spam problem..but SOMEHOW they had my details. it is still a mystery to me and i have text STOP to the number, but i will never trust any thing like this ever again. £260 i could have used toward my rent! I will never know where that money went , what exactly did i recieve to my number? But it was taken from me anyway but something called Mblox. It was a nightmare.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Hi Valerie, thank you for your response. You should be able to recover the money. Try Tel 02084321260, this is the UK head office based in London. Should there be more complaints of this nature regarding Mblox, I intend to lodge a petition/claim with Icstis too.
January 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I got 3 text message. content of the text is ” ,” (just a comma). T-Mobile charge me £1.5 for each text. T-mobile asked me to talk to Mblox I called them they said that someone call Mill Wind UK send me the text and gave 08712402500 number to call mill wind UK, when I dial this number line gets connected and you still hear the ringing tone from other end. Now I don’t know what to do.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I’ve just received my O2 bill and have incurred some text costs (£4.50) which were not authorised by me. I checked with O2 who said it was from 80160 and the name was M Blox. They couldn’t block the text number but they suggested I text the word ‘STOP’ to 80160 but could also phone 087122-30000. I rang this number and it was M Blox based in the Netherlands!! They checked my mobile number and said the user was Millwind. M Blox said they could not stop Millwind using the number and I needed to get in touch with Millwind direct. They gave me 087124 02500. I rang Millwind and a chap (apparently from East London!)said they had been having some technical problems with some texts going to wrong mobiles and that he would put a stop on it. He asked for my mobile no. which I reluctantly gave, only hoping I did right. He locate my number and said he would take it out of the system. He also said they would be sending me a reimbursement postal order of £4.50 for the text messages. I had to give him my address in order to send the postal order, which again I hope I’ve done right! It seems strange that the three text messages were 24/1, 31/1, and 8/2 which co-incide with the many of the above messages from other consumers. I will keep checking with 02 over the next weeks to see how my account is running. I am hoping I have stopped this fraudulent use of my mobile number and the taking of money out of my account an action I have never agreed to.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I just looked at my online ATT bill and notice an increase in the charge, when I looked there was a $9.99 charge for “direct download”, upon calling ATT the y told me did I “text to buy something ect” I said never. The ATT operator said she would remove the charge, we will see. I ask her what is was and she had no idea, so I started searching the Internet and found this. So I have been zapped by this company for something I never agreed to. We will see if ATT honors thier word and removes the charge. BTW took my account off Auto Pay. Making them send me a bill.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
This is a very strange new scam… not so new… for about a year I have been getting a hit for $9.99 for Mblox… I do not normally get the bill so I never see the services attached to the phone. These SPAM text messages are tricky.. When received one at the end it tells you how to STOP them.. well if you do not CAP the STOP it is like say OK bill me… Anyhow I did find out one good thing that I did not find anyplace on the ATT website http://www.wireless.att.com/db This will take you to a site you plug in your number and it sends a code to your phone. (security) you can search and cancel your subscriptions.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:38 pm
I have had regular charges £2.55 a time, at least 2 per bill on my Vodafone bill. I eventually called them today to query it and they told me if was from MBlox and I should text STOP to 83833. I am so angry (with myself firstly for not calling about it sooner) but also that someone can just send crap to your mobile advertising their games or whatever and I get charged for it. The guy asked if I had ever subscribed to monthly games or anything, but I never have….I don’t download ringtones, games or any crap like that! GRRR! What a SCAM! Glad I found this webpage to have a moan to other people who have been scammed! I hope the STOP thing works, or i’ll have another £5 - £10 on my bill again next month!!
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 am
Further to my email of 20th Feb see complaint No. 8 above. I have actually received a refund cheque for £4.50 from Millwind who were the third party. If you have had deductions made on your mobile bill which were via MBlox ring MBlox and find out who the text was send on behalf of. Then ring this third party and with a bit of luck you will get a refund. If you send the text ‘STOP’ and there are further deductions its just possible your subscriber might be able to refund the deductions. My provider is O2.
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I was getting very angry with my daughter as she was using all her credit but denying she has used her phone, i eventually rang her network only to be told that her money was going to “m blocks” and they gave me a number to ring to complain. My daughter is only 10 years old and bought the phone herself with her birthday money. I can’t believe this could happen!! I will be attempting to ring them but looking at the other mails I don’t stand much chance of getting anywhere with them.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Mi queja es que mi saldo me va disminuyendo sin yo utilizar el móvil, llamo a mi operdora y me informa que es debido a los mensajes que ustedes me envian, por lo que no deseo recivir ningun tipo de mensajes por parte de ustedes que no sean gratuitos.Solicito respuesta por e-mail por favor. Gracias.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I never really open my phone statements I normally pay the bill online and move on. But something told me to just read it over just this once and I’m glad I did. For the past 4 months I had been paying over 20 dollars a month to mblox. I never even heard of the company. I was even more shocked when I did an internet search and found this site among others. I immediatley called my cell phone carrier, ATT. They were extremely helpful. They blocked mblox, and even had parental controls set so that in order for me to purchase anything on my phone I need a pin so that I can track anything unauthorized. They even refunded my money from the last 90 days. I’ve also contacted mblox threatening to call a lawyer and the better business bureau if they don’t get back to me.
March 11th, 2008 at 1:58 am
I have had about 10 messages from MBLOX each telling me new stuff on the site, and i was charged $5 for each of them!
Does anyone know how to CANCEL THE SUBSCRIPTION! Which I didn;t even sign up for by the way!
March 14th, 2008 at 8:35 am
I have a similar story to everyone else. I don’t normally check my statements for my Orange pay monthly contract as i pay by direct debit. This month my bill seemed abnormally high and I couldn’t figure out from my statement where the charges were from. To be told by Orange I was getting charged £5 for text messages from MBlox. I hadn’t authorised any such text messages but he said that Orange could not reimburse the cost and gave me a Customer Help number for MBlox which is 02081149477. When I phoned it it said “Welcome to MBlox customer service line (in American voice) Pause….. GOODBYE” I was mad. I also tried the number given in a previous blog for the UK line 02084321260 but it was an answering service as closed for the weekend. I will try again tomorrow. How can these companies get away with charging you lots of money for something you haven’t signed up for?! I’m thinking about contacting watchdog. Atleast I have only been charged £40 in total. Could be worse. Is there any other Orange UK users out there that have experienced the same?
March 16th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I have just had a bill for an abnormally high amount and my story is exactly like yours!!
March 17th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
hello,
I have had similar problems to the above, though im on pay as you go. I had problems just over a month ago and after emailing MBlox who told me they would remove my details, they have not and have just charged me for something i haven’t signed up for (again). I have contacted trading standards who have told me to contact icstis. icstic have apparently fined Mblox 14,000 for unsolicited messages. but this was in July 2006 and mblox seem to be still getting away with it. this is not fair and making me angry, as im sure it has for many others. The charges where triggered for me when my friend tried to phone me on a reverse charge number (08000mumdad), which I declinded to recieve. I have emailed, i have phoned and where am i now??? nowhere. I don’t know what to do and will probaly have to change my sim card, cause im not going to let them take anymore of my hard earned moneys. >:-
March 17th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I have just gone through the samething…though I blamed my son at first thinking he was d/ling things her shouldn’t be. But now after reading this I KNOW it wasn’t him and I feel aweful blaming him. I already contacted AT&T and she reimbursed the charges which were about $50.00 but I’m going to contact them again and see how I can block these people, or like another person said have pin number so you have to put in a pin in order to purchase something when they text you or anything time for that matter.
Crossing my fingers that this will never happen again
March 24th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
follow-up I called back AT&T and she put a parental block on my son’s phone even though he’s 20…LOL but it needed to be done as I don’t want this to be a reacurring charge
I hope this solves the problem, and at least at&t knows that I’ve tried to resolve this issue, so if anymore charges were to occur by this company on my son’s line that the charges are fraudulent
*note sorry for the mis-spelling from my previous complaint…fast fingers..LOL
March 24th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Excuse my french but what the fuck, how are you going to charge me for something I never signed up for.
TO CANCEL YOUR UNAUTHORIZED MBLOX SUBSCRIPTION GO TO: http://www.wireless.att.com/db
March 26th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I have an update to my blog no17. I phoned MBlox and they told me the same story as previous bloggers that they are not responsible for initiating the text messages they just send them. The person said “we are like the postman if you like!” Anyway, i was told my texts were from a company called Emaxus and given a customer no. When i phoned it I got the exact same answering machine message as MBlox in American voice “Welcome to customer services…..GOODBYE”
March 30th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
CONT FROM 23! TOO MUCH TO SAY! Anyway, I phoned back and got a different no 02081149478. But the girl made me feel like it was my fault i had phoned the wrong no in the first place! Anyway they logged my complaint, I had to give phone no and address reluctantly and said they would be in contact via phone or e-mail about a refund in 7-10 days. 10 days up tomorrow and still waiting!!!!
March 30th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
i did not sign up for a love coach thing and i want my money back!!!
April 5th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Dear US,
We also have the same problem concerning the unsolicited billing of our cell phone accounts. In the past three years MBlox have been fined twenty six times for their involvement in what many people here consider to be tantamount to fraud.
Our UK cell phone companies take a 20% to %50 share of this billing scandal before passing the remaining revenue on to MBlox.
I strongly suggest you demand your politicians and legislators reveal the true revenue share arrangements your cell phone companies have with companies like MBlox.
April 12th, 2008 at 6:51 am
I, too, have been hit by this scam. I had £10 and £5 stolen from my 02 Pay as You Go cellphone and have just been advised by 02 that it is MBlox. I have never subscribed to, or downloaded anything on my mobile, I basically use it for texting family and incoming calls. I am absolutely livid that this company is allowed to carry on trading fraudulently. I also think that 02 should do something about it, but if they’re also getting a cut of my money then they’re hardly likely to.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:10 am
i have just noticed credit dropping at £5 a time on my orange pay as you go and found out that it is down mblox who i also have never registered with or downloaded,i am fuming orange gave me a number for their customer service 02081149477 which i phoned only to get an autoted voice tell me they will put me through to an adviser then a male automated voice says goodbye and the line goes dead, orange have told me i must have downloaded mblox and i am responsable. my daughter is sick which means i need contact with people all the time and to change my number is going to be a night mare so thanks mblox this will be going further!!!!
April 24th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I called AT&T when I got a 9.99 charge from mblox. There was a contact number for the mblox transaction on the bill–it was AT&T’s number! They not only refunded my 9.99…they “took care of” my entire $150 bill for the month. Sounds like AT&T knows it’s in trouble…that or they know I’m a lawyer.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I have also just noticed 2 £5 losses on my mobile phone for reverse charge texts which i do not recall receiving. I just rang up Mblox on 02081149477 to which I got a message of ‘Goodbye!’ and hangs up, I noticed another number above in this blog 02084321260 which i just rang and got thru, they were forwarding the blame to a company called ‘Emexus’ but have forwarded an email on my behalf stating that i want these messages to stop and that I demand my money back and compensation for inconvenience caused as I am a PAYG customer and they have left me with no credit at all and my ‘my vodafone family’ is due out tomorrow which cannot be covered. Mblox also gave me another number to try for this Emexus which is 02081149478 to which all i got was an answering machine in an american voice. I told Mblox to emphasise in their email that ‘to take without the owners consent is classed as theft’ and that I will NOT drop this case until they have stopped these messages and refunded me with compensation. I dont think i amused her with my blunt attitude but hey, no1 should have to put up with this rubbish.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Well i know exactly how u r all feeling, this has happened to me i contacted T M obile to state that i had not ordered anything but had been charged.I requested a block on any downloads which was done, T Mobile then text me a number to call, which i did 3 times to hear the infamous smug “goodbye”. This whole issue has bugged me most of the day,so i called T Mobile again and stated that i had viewed this site and this is happening to a lot of people and for some a large amount, for me a small amount but as i am unemployed this means a lot to me .The operator to whom i spoke listened to me and heartfelt fully understood my cause for concern and duly credited my account with £23. To me this has signified a company in this day and age that will listen and for that i will continue to be with T Mobile. I hope that maybe some of the other companies will also do the same for the people that have encountered this scam and will promptly put a stop to this and bring those to justice who are involved in this .GOOD LUCK.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
UNBELIEVABLE! Those unethical SOBs! They have been charging both our phones for 6 months. We don’t even have internet access! I just noticed this on our bill. Its a total of $78 plus tax (for all 6 months). Wonder how many other people are paying $2.99 per month and don’t even notice it. Sounds like stealing to me……
April 30th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I have just found out that i have been charged £29.50 from MBLOX, over a 3 month period. It has normally been for a few pounds, however this month it was too big for me not to notice. Im contacted my service provider and they said they couldn’t do anything and gave me a number to call. I tried the number which Vodafone gave me and it’s a fax number 08717508005. Tried to contact on a different number off this site and am still not able to get through. I have text STOP to 97766 which Vodafone advised me to do and hopefully that will work…I’m going to keep trying though.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:49 am
If stop dones’t work then try END if that doen’t work try quit. if ti works it could still take up to 3 buisness days for it to stop.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Veronica,
You don’t have to have internet acess for these things. There aren’t just ringtones they can come in as jokes, trivia, horoscope, etc. For the last SIX months you’ve been charged?? Maybe if you actually looked at your bill you wouldn’t have been charged that long.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:27 am
We had unauthorized charges, and AT&T explained how to stop the service (text stop to the numbers on the bill) and even credited my account. It does not change the fact that they should never have been on the bill to begin with, but at least they fixed my problem.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:53 am
I’ve been stung my MBLOX for nearly £15.00 this month! I have never subscribed to any of their rip-off services! What I don’t understand is that I have not received a single text! I’ve spoken to my provider (Vodafone) who instructed me to contact MBLOX with my complaint. MBLOX deny all knowledge!!! They claim my number has never been registered with them! Something must be done to stop these scumbags! Where’s Watchdog when you need ‘em?!?! This needs some serious investigation and regulation!
May 13th, 2008 at 5:11 am
I have had a similar experience (as 28) with MBLOX on my daughter’s phone with T-Mobile. She has lost £40 to MBLOX in the last couple of months. MBLOX and similar thieves should be stopped!
May 15th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I discovered charges on my daughter’s cell phone for $9.99 each month from mblox/acotel. She didn’t download anything and she’s not old enough to agree to terms & conditions in any case. This had been going on for 12 months before I discovered it. AT&T could reverse the last 3 months of charges, but nothing more. I contacted mblox and they said that acotel was responsible. I emailed acotel, but they didn’t respond. I then called acotel, but they said they would not be able to refund any unwanted charges. So I am stuck with the 9 months of unwanted charges - the entire period of which my daughter’s phone was turned off because it was stolen and I refused to replace it until she was mature enough to hold onto it. So she didn’t even have access to a phone - we cancelled the service, but somehow mblox/acotel was still able to bill us $9.99/month the entire duration it was off. I told acotel I planned to add my name to the class action law suit. I can’t believe this type of scam is legal.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Every month on my 12 year old’s phone line I receive at least a 9.99 charge or more from unwanted sites texting her. The latest Verizon has stated that she must have registered her line on the computer. I have blocked everthing on her and i know this is not true. I am frustrated because each month I contact Verizon to remove the charges and threaten to discontinue my service with them. They notified me that this is the last month they will take the charges off as my children need to learn not to use these sites!!!!!!!
June 5th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
i have been cheated out of £45 pounds by this company over 3 months the phone co told me to text stop at my own cost which i did so i do not get anymore texts anymore i would like to know if i can get my money back as these were totally unsolicited texts/sms
June 14th, 2008 at 6:07 am
i also have a similar story, $95b dollars worth of unwanted messages received charges from 3 sources jamster, dadamobile and text and win, its a rort and i am surprised that optusnet who is my provider, allow and bill me for their activity
June 18th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
i also have a similar story $95 dollars worth of unwanted received messages from 3 sources , jamster, dada mobile, and text and win, they send messages1 second apart clocking up $4.55 a pop this is definitly a rort and conditions of reply are not explained, and i am surprised and disapointed that optus give access to these companiesand then bill me for their activity, “souns like a rort to me”.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I also just realized I have had 8 months of 9.99 - 10.49 w/ tax of charges each month from Mblx operatele. I called AT&T and they refunded 4 months of it. Still have 40.00 in charges for something that I have no idea what it is. Wanted to share this along with everyone else.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I don’t know how these scumbags get away with it! If we individuals purposely set up a system to deliberately defraud someone for the purpose of gaining access to thier account we’d go to jail! What’s the mobile phone ombudsman’s take on this mblox etc scam???????????????
June 29th, 2008 at 12:49 am
I think the way to get rid of these stupid things is by txting help to the number then you have to ask them how to stop it because i ad it and it wouldnt tell me then i txted stop to the number and it said it was stoped and it told me how to start back up by txting start but wat im saying is to ask how to stop it and try sending stop to the number
June 29th, 2008 at 3:24 am
Today I used my wap on my cellphone and received a phone bill on around €3-4, in Swedish currency 40.00:- for something I had never ordered. I became confused and thought that I had accidently downloaded something, but I couldn’t thought of anything, plus the fact that I had never agreed to any agreement. So I looked up the number and I saw that it came from American Mobile Ventures where Mblox appears to have some connection as you can see: http://193.12.60.80/Public/T2CuSeCBG.nsf/d1e56b1c83e60a1ac1256fab00517965/4a424cc6cf0f5fc4c1257436004948e6?OpenDocument
I searched on Mblox and found this website where many had the same problems as I. Now I’m confused because I do not want to have more bills, but I can’t find that anything similar has happened to any other Swede as far as I know. Well well, I’ll keep looking and if this continues I’ll contact my operator.
July 12th, 2008 at 6:18 am
My last AT&T bill included charges for $9.99 for one or my daughter’s phones and two charges of $19.99 each on my other daughter’s line. These charges were under the merchant names M-Qube Inc and Mblox. I contacted AT&T and they nearly caused me to explode with a ridiculous explanation as to how this occurs through ring tones and some other unbelievable diatribe. I let them know in no uncertain terms that I feel they have complete control over this type of practice and were basically aiding and abetting a deceptive practice.
I requested an immediate refund be posted to my account to which they stated they would need to contact the merchant and a credit would be posted in the next two billing cycles. I insisted I wanted the credit now and made it as far as a robotic supervisor who repeated phrases from what I’m sure was a scripted response. AT&T has now, supposedly, placed purchase blockers on my cell phone service to prevent this activity from happening in the future. I asked them why anyone in their right mind would want this type of service in the first place and told them the default should be to prevent this scandalous activity from occurring. Surely if a customer wants this type of service (although why, I’ll never understand) then I’m sure it would be a simple task to select this when setting up the service.
With regard to my current bill, I have reported AT&T to the FCC and, in anticipation of the credit, have paid my bill less these ridiculous charges.
July 12th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
mBlox has stepped in the mud this time. They and their partners all have on the various web sites TOS pages that indicate they send and receive SMS confirmations for their subscriptions. I have an account with ATT that has 3 lines on it (a family plan). One of the lines is temporarily deactivated because the handset is damaged, and the SIM card for that handset is in my briefcase, so it is virtually impossible to claim that they have a confirmation from that handset. And the dates and billing date are all a matter of record. And since I still receive my bill via US Mail, I think there may be a federal mail fraud angle too, have to look into that…
July 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Just got my AT&T statement. Was 25.00 higher than normal. I use autopay, but always look over my bill. There’s a charge for MBLOX. What is MBLOX???
Called at&t and they immediately credited my account and put on a purchase block.
I found this site after talking to AT&T and decided to call AT&T back to complain. How can a company just charge me for something I didn’t authorize nor I know nothing about? After my 3rd call to AT&T, the woman told me this company uses different tactics such as surveys etc where they gain access to your cell number and trick you into their service. What a scam. AT&T will credit your account. They told me this happens a lot!!!
July 24th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Much the same story here – I rec’d a 9.99 charge on my daughter’s phone (in our family plan) from Mblox for “redcircle”. Found this site and called AT&T – they removed the charges but said that if it happens again I need to call Mblox. I told them about other people’s complaints, and said that others had reported a “purchase block” being placed on their phone to prevent it from happening again. At first the rep said she was not familiar with purchase block but after being placed on hold, came back and said that that would be something that only prevented Mblox from downloading stuff and charging us. I told her that sounded like it would accomplish what I wanted and that I wanted her to do that. She asked to place me on hold again to verify that what she was telling me was correct – when she returned, she asked if I wanted to just block all internet traffic on the line, because that would solve the problem. Since I don’t want Internet access on any of our lines, I verified that that would solve the Mblox problem, and then agreed to have her block all internet traffic or access. One thing that concerns me is what sounded like a reluctance to placing the purchase block on there for Mblox – not sure if they get some kickback for allowing these settings to exist or if it’s bad business for them to put a block like that on there or what. Just seemed like they were happier coming up with a different solution than the purchase block. Either way – the internet block was fine with me, and she assured me it would correct the Mblox issue. We’ll see next month!
July 25th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I had a positive experience with ATT. After pressing a couple of buttons I spoke to a rep. When I mentioned the charges, he said he knew all about it, canceled the services, issued a refund for the charges, and offered to put blocks on my kids lines so that they have to enter a pin number before they can order things on their phone.
He also said that the problem is companies like mblox send text messages offering services. Most people just delete the message, but you actually have to reply with the text message “cancel” to make sure they don’t try to automatically subscribe you.
Not a perfect solution, but definetly better than other experiences reported her. Maybe they’re catching on.
July 31st, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I have not fallen to this scam,,, (thank god.) but can’t beleive that it is allowed by att to put these charges on your bill. They are obviously involved otherwise why would it go straight to your own phone companies billing plans…?
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
My son got the same $9.99 charge from Mblox with no download and no record on his phone. ATT is taking care of it, but I’m concerned of further abuse by Mblox.
August 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Well they charge my phone this when i never bought and its a froud of 9.99
August 5th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Here’s the email I sent MBLOX today. We need to bombard these crooks! I refer to the UK law.
12 August 2008. To:MBLOX
Sir
In July your company STOLE £25 from me. I purchased NOTHING from you or any of your thieving associates. You sent me FIVE identical UNSOLICITATED TEXTS, to which I did not respond, then you charged me £5 for each text! I bought nothing whatsoever from you, nor did you send me any product or service. Nor did I sign some thieves charter!
Under the law of this land, if you HAD actually sold me something by phone or mail there would follow a cooling-off period. I have not yet cooled off!!!! but I am telling you within the time period of your theft from me, (since I haven’t yet received anything), that I don’t want anything whatsoever from you. So under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, I demand that you return my money.
Even if this could be loosely classed as a ‘premium rate phone service’ (under the above Act) you are obliged to provide the consumer with ALL information, plus the cost of the phone service including VAT, before you start charging. This refers to EVERY individual call at the time it is made. There is also the requirement for you to make reference to such things as ‘ongoing period of time’, ‘the identity and address of your business’, ‘the reason for the call’ etc.
You are also in breach of the Unfair Terms & Consumer Contract Regulations 1999. I will not waste my efforts pointing out the finer points of the Act, as I am sure you are fully informed but choose to ignore them.
You have merely devised a dishonest phone trick whereby you can send a text to any mobile phone which somehow gives you the facility to steal £5 from the owner of the phone. In any book that is unadulterated THEFT! Your own licence to print money!
I now demand that you refund my stolen money.
I will take this up with all the authorities I can think of, although judging by the numerous blogs from your other victims all over the world, any ‘fine’ is just a drop in the ocean compared to the millions your dishonest outfit is clearly netting worldwide every day. What do you care about the students and old people on fixed incomes, or families and individuals you are stealing from? It is hard to believe that people actually take jobs with such a dishonest thieving company - for example you, the person reading this message.
Do not send me a text as I have barred you out with T-Mobile. Please advise by landline, email or post as advised above.
I expect my £25 returned IMMEDIATELY, plus any other sums you have taken in previous months from my mobile that I haven’t yet had time to check.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I’ve been charged for texts from MBLOX ROJO , text No, 80138 without my authorisation. I want them to stop doing this and my service provider Orange siad they can’t do anything to stop them. Surely this they are breaking the law. Can anyone help me stop them and get them to refun my money?
August 16th, 2008 at 4:49 am
Thanks for everyone’s helpful hints. My AT&T bill that arrived in today’s mail had 2 charges: one from MBlox for $9.99 and one from OpenMarket for $9.99. I thought my teenage son had downloaded something but when asked, he claimed he did not. I called AT&T and they took off the charges for both (no questions asked) and I asked to have the block put on his phone, which was taken care of right away. Hopefully that will at least take care of the problem for now.
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Charge apeared on my AT&T bill under Communications Purchase and Downloads Detail for $19.99. A call (and wait) to their customer service line 1-800-331-0500 or 611 on your cell phone to speak with a customer service rep. They indicated a credit will appear on my next bill. They also placed Parental Control on the phone line and will send the PIN via email.
mBlox snail mail address is:
485 East Evelyn Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA, 94086
and also:
555 North Mathilda Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA, 94085.
I am sure they would love to hear from you or receive a Christmas card.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Text messages at £4.00. a time plus vat appeared on my most recent mobile bill.I rang my mobile comany to querey these unauthorised charges.they told me to text stop in capital letters to prevent any further communications from mblox.Refunding my money will be more through than they were by STEALING it.MBLOX.YOU BETTER WATCH OUT.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:24 am
Interesting reading your comments! Just opened my Vodafone bill to find charges of nearly £50 in one month to this nightmare company. Nearly had a fit! Vodafone have kindly offered me some compensation and seem to have done what they can to bar the number but they have also given me a number to ring - 02081149478 - to complain and get my mobile number removed from the service. They didn’t give me the name of the company though, so reading your stories has helped. Thanks! Have tried the number for over an hour now, constantly engaged - 101 people ringing with complaints probably!
September 4th, 2008 at 4:13 am
I too have been hit with these texts via Emexus on my Orange PAYG account, and spent hours trying to find the right numbers to contact them and claim a refund and to stop the texts from being sent to me - at present I have had no luck as each person denies it is their fault and passes the buck further. Orange say they can do nothing, and I have tried the link through ATT website with no success, so if anyone has any other contact details or information about claiming (if they have been successful), it would be much appreciated.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:44 am
Hi Joanne, I tried to speak with someone in person - Not helpful at all. In the end Vodafone told me to text STOP 97766 and it seems to have worked. Good luck!
September 4th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I checked to see why my bill was so high and discovered 2 charges for $19.99 from Mblox with ATT’s customer service number. Then I started researching previous bills and it was also showing the same on the last months bill. I called ATT and they told me I would receive a credit for all 4 charges. I thought that was great, but I was also told that I need to reply STOP or CANCEL to the SPAM text messages they are sending that is allowing this to happen! I got one the other day and ignored it because its SPAM and they are are saying by not replying you are agreeing???? THIS IS SUCH A SCAM!!!!!! I will be reporting them and informing all local news stations about this deceptive practice that ATT is involved with. I am glad they refunded me but now I will have to call them again next month to have 2 more charges removed when I get that bill. Not replying to SPAM does not equal Agreeing to purchase!!!!! They are perpetuating the entire thing! They should be ashamed and I am very sad to be doing business with these cell phone companies and their deceptive practices! When I find one that does not allow this to happen you can be CERTAIN I am switching to that company!
September 7th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I to have been ripped off from these Frauding S.O.Bs.I too am going to sue this MBLOX Co AND THE THIRD PARTY EMEXUS too
September 7th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Hi guys,
Andrew Bud the co-founder and CEO of mblox has been forced to resign from the board of the UK Industry Regulator (PhonePayPlus). This is the Regulator that is responsible for Industry compliance and consumer protection in the UK. He has been fined numerous times for his involvement in continually ripping off the public here.
……………..
4 September 2008
Resignation from PhonepayPlus Board
Statement from Sir Alistair Graham, Chairman
“I have today accepted with regret Andrew Bud’s resignation from the Board of PhonepayPlus.
“Andrew has served with distinction since his appointment in 2005. His extensive knowledge of the phone-paid services market has been a great help to PhonepayPlus as it seeks to pre-empt and prevent causes of harm, and protect consumers when they occur.
“However, some compliance issues have been identified recently in relation to the services of some customers of mBlox. Andrew wanted to be free to address these issues directly, ensuring that all such services meet public and regulatory expectations, without his position on the Board becoming a consideration or matter of speculation.
“In these circumstances, I accept and applaud his decision and thank him for his contribution to PhonepayPlus.”
…………
It appears your Regulator is as useless as our regulator at protecting us from ‘unauthorized’ billing.
September 8th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
If anyone is in Portland Oregon, I contacted KATU and they are looking for people to interview regarding this. I also have filed a complaint with the FCC and the Attorney General.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
PRS crime is protected by the telecomms industry.
O2 are not interested. PhonpayPlus actually had the CEO of the frontman company, mBlox, sitting on their board. mBlox claim that they only lease out the shortcode numbers.
mBlox and the people they lease numbers to are continually being fined paltry sums and yet the scams continue. One can only assume that the profits far outweigh any “sanctions” taken against these crooks.
The telecoms industry is rotten from the top down.
Consumers are being taken for a ride. Unsolicited text messages which allow money to billed against your mobile phone constitutes THEFT for goodness sake.
One wonders what the criminals behind PRS scams are doing with the money - funding other criminal activities perhaps?
September 11th, 2008 at 6:47 am
I’ve just had a bill for £5.56 and have been told by Vodafone that it is from MBlox. I haven’t authorised it to be taken out of my account and don’t give my phone details to spam companies. Now I have to chase it up and worry that more money can be scammed out of me in the future. Surely it is illegal to do this? Watchdog needs to be told of this scam.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:32 am
nb graham,
hi i’ve just been through my phonebill from orange,it’s been higher than usual for the last few months,i’ve seen a debit for £4.22 on 4 seperate occasions,i’ve flagged this up with orange,and theyve informed me about this MBlox scam,i havent agreed to anything,so orange gave me a number to ring,02081149478 which i thought was a london number but after been on hold for 17mins and been told on numerous occasions i was first in the que,i spoke to a woman,aparentley i’ve been paying for this charge since 1st july 2008,so i’ve lost well over £60.00,also i asked this woman as to where i was calling,she said you are calling the USA.surely surely surely this is illegal,so not only have a lost £60 + also i’ll get a charge for calling the states now.!!!!!!
buggered beyond belief.it’s absolutely ffffing disgraceful!!!!
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:18 am
I had a $9.99 charge come through on Sep 7th. I called AT&T to report the unauthorized charge. The CSR credited my account, but when I asked how things like this can happen, she told me I must have accidentally purchased something.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am
D.Manning
haha acidently purchased something is that the best excuse they can give..Outrageous,i’ve been onto Trading Standards i’ve given them all details of where i have NOT purchased anything,they will get back to me in due course.this company aka MBlox is disgusting!!!
September 24th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I too just discovered a $20.19 charge for Mblox, a service I did not order nor am I at all familiar with. When going to AT&T to cancel, I discovered that I have already been billed for next month as well. At any rate, my next move is to notify the consumer fraud division of the office of the Connecticut Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal. Taking on Mblox and their partner in crime, AT&T, is just up their alley.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Just called AT&T about the Mblox charges that have been posted to my bill (my son’s phone number)over the last 4 months. Have to say the AT&T assistant was fantastic. She reviewed the account and reversed all charges that were billed/paid over the last 6 months and we set up a “purchase blocker” so no purchases of any kind can be made from my son’s phone line. Can’t ask for more than that!
September 30th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I work in a call center for a major cell phone provider in the US. You would be amazed (or maybe not) by how many calls I recieve about these third party companies (especially Mblox) billing people without their consent. While I dont’t know if it’s against company policy to refer people to this website with their complaints I will indeed inquire about it. The problem with these charges is that they can be incurred whether you have a data connection or not, and also can be incurred even with a purchase block on your account. The content/subscription actually comes to your device through a SMS (text message). I’ve helped more people with the cancellation and refunding of these charges than I have with any other type of call. After seeing how many people have charges from Mblox that never signed up for anything I decided to check online and see what the company was which also led me to this site. Not only does this type of activity seem fraudulent and illegal, but it also increases call volume to the point that people with real problems with their phones don’t get helped in a timely fashion.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
I received a charge from mblox on my at&t wireless bill. At&t tried telling me that I had to have approved the charge, but I didn’t. I never buy anything using my phone, and I never buy any apps or games or anything for my phone online. The same exact thing happened with jamster. Both totaled almost $40 dollars. This is BS.
October 16th, 2008 at 8:58 am
pfft can we go public with this!!
does anyone know who to forwasrd this onto.it’s skanking people wihout their consent..
October 16th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
J.Vernon,
have you been scammed the US or UK?
This is a US forum.
If your in the UK you might want to post on The Scream Forum in the General Telcos section.
October 17th, 2008 at 10:05 am
When reading until the middle part, I somehow felt tired to read the rest. Same case here. AT & T provider. I login to its website and stop the subscription n require for refund. Hopefully it will refund.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I just ran into this charge on my bill with AT&T. I didn’t have a problem with getting a refund on this, but I wasn’t able to remove it cause the computers were in a update cycle. The Customer Service Agent was kind enough to issue a refund on it, and a note that this subscription is to be canceled when I or the other account holder call back.
October 18th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
i know how to stop the texts, and the $9.99 a month
this happened to me and all you do is reply to on of the texts and text the word
STOP
soon after you will recieve a text about them stopping.
hope i helpped alot of you people
October 19th, 2008 at 12:56 am
my latest bill had a charge from operatele and mblox for almost 100 dollars . i immediatly called at&t and raised hell , they eventually removed all the charges . this is rediculous ; from what i’ve been reading ; how this can keep going on . i hope this gets figured out soon and they have to return every penny they took without permission .
October 24th, 2008 at 8:03 am
That’ll teach you all for not reading your bills..
October 24th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Just got my ATT bill with a $19.99 charge from this scam. Did an auromated request for a refund from ATT and it says it was denied, so tomorrowe I will spend what ever time nessary to get this money refunded.
I have always had my interent blocked on my phone, so ther is no way I would even but this crap. I dont even text. All I so is make and recieve calls.
I better see a credit STAT.
Who are these people anyway?
October 25th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
To Anon:
I think getting your bill and reporting it 15 minutes later is pretty prompt.
Hard to dispute the bill until you actually recieve it.
BTW, ATT very nicely refunded all of my money once I talked to them in person
I had to wait for their belling center to open, and I called 15 minutes after they opened. How fast do you suggest in the future Anon?
Thanks ATT.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
charging $9.99 for something i never downloaded, i googled the company to see what this charge could be and I see this class action lawsuit shit happening
October 27th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Glad to see that I’m not alone in being charged $9.99 for mBlox that I never authorized!! What is bullrap?! Thankfully AT%T is going to credit my account and block mBlox from further charging me.
October 28th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I’m not sure if I’m glad or appalled to see that I’m not alone in being charged (in my case $19.99) for mBlox that I never authorized!! This is beyond ridiculous! AT%T claims they are going to credit my account (60 day processing time; pay now - credit later; good for their cashflow) and block mBlox from further charging me.
October 28th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
These charges - or something like them - have appeared twice on my AT&T phone bill. I have not had any problem having the charges removed, and they do everything they can to stop the recurrence. Problem is once your number is out there, it gets sold to other companies. My charges showed up on a phone that has no internet access. Apparently if you do something online that requires you to put in your cell number, that information generates charges to your phone bill. Thankfully, AT&T has always been helpful and supportive.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:25 am
yey!!!!!
word up guys all is not lost.there’s a law suit against them in the UK,by off com.governing watchdog.
October 29th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Finally!!! How do we get on the class action lawsuit? Thanks!
October 30th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Just queried my mobile bill with VODAPHONE as I never use it, it’d just for emergencies. After being on to them for 20 minutes, they were really helpful and told me that a company caleed MBLOX has been texting me at over 4 quid a time. As i’m a 37 year year old married mother of 3, I don’t really feel the need to play on my phone!!! I rang MBLOX and after hetting stroppy they have agreed to refund me, trouble is, I don’t know how long it’s been going on for.
November 1st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
i tried a few times to get FREE ringtones.failed,doesn’t support my phone. from 21 aug to 31 oct billed $183.35.AND no ringtones. i will not pay 4 something i did not get.how 2 get out of it ?
November 6th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
To All:
Two different times now I have had issues with this stuff happening on only 1 of the 4 numbers on my account. I called today regarding the bill I just received in which it is $49.96 and the man said everything has to be authorized on some level. I said um no that’s not the case I have investigated this online for the 4 companies on this bill and ALL can just start charging you although you don’t authorize it. Once I said this the man said he would refund the fees for this past months bill and the current cycle as well.
Previously someone spoke of having them (my company is AT&T) put a purchase block on and that they generally won’t do this; however, I told the man of this and he put it on that phone line and said it should prevent this from happening in the future.
TIME will tell if the purchase block TRULY stops this from happening.
Anyone else ever gotten a purchase block and had it still occur?
November 8th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
my bill doesn’t say what i am charged 4. baybe it’s 4 astrology shit i’ve been getting. have cancelled every one i don’t believe in that crap and did not ask 4 it. i will not pay 4 it. they should b jailed 4 ripping off any one and i am a pensioner. $183 ?i’ll go to jail first
November 8th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I noticed on my 11 year old daughter’s cell bill a $9.99 charge from Mblox. This phone already had a block from internet access put on it. She said that she did not order anything. I have reviewed past bills and have been charged this for three months now. I went through all of her incoming and outgoing calls and texts and there is no unknown numbers showing up. I have gone to the att.com/db and requested a refund and cancelation of this service. If she never received an unknown text, how am I being charged for this. I work for a large law firm and will be researching this further.
November 9th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Joy - this is the same thing that happened to me with my daughter’s phone, except I didn’t notice it for 12 months (it’s my own fault for not reviewing my bill carefully, which I do now). In any case, AT&T will only credit charges for 3 months back, so I’m out of luck for the remaining 9 months. I made a few phone calls initially to mblox, but they refused to refund my money, which totals $89.91. I know it’s not significant, but I would love to see mblox pay for it - not just my charges, but everyone they have scammed this way. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do about this in a class action lawsuit. Thank you!!! LP
November 10th, 2008 at 8:57 am
i finally got it all sorted out.rang telstra for the 5th time.got a guy who was friendly and helpful.he wiped the $183 off my acc.i am glad i have my bill sent to me before i pay it so i didn’t lose any thing
November 10th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I just happened to go thru my phone bill this past cycle and I found the following - Jamster@9.99 per month, Dada.net@9.99 per month, Thumbplay@9.99 per month and Operatele@19.99 per month!!! also, I back checked and found Jamster and Thumbplay has been charged to my# every month since since March’08!(mind you these charges were on MY# not my children!!!) I called each Company (and got nowhere -couldn’t find a legit # for Operatele!) and finally called AT&T. I was totally surprised and pleased that they credited me immediately - no hassel what-so-ever. this site just might be doing something proactive-not just allowing us to vent but, actually influencing positive feedback from AT&T.
November 15th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
In the UK, you need to text into a 5 digit shortcode to enable any premium billing like this - so the trick is to check the small print before sending any such text, as doing so is often legally taken as your consent to the charges advertised. In both US and UK, there legally needs to be a way to opt out by replying “STOP” to the message you receive, and this has to be honoured. In the UK, I know that mblox handle this themselves and terminate the billing for you on behalf of whoever is providing the download, ringtones, or subscription or whatever it is you’ve signed up for.
However, I dont get why these complaints above are mblox’s fault - all they do is handle the transactions for whoever’s shortcode you used; it’s like going and signing up for a magazine subscription with your credit card, then complaining that your credit card company are sending you bills!
November 16th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
dear bob
mblox
send you a text saying do you want to win an audi A3,txt yes or no to this number.it’s fraudulent you tool!!
November 17th, 2008 at 9:03 am
hey all,
I just recently got this decrepency also in my bill. I wasn’t charged much but hoping I don’t get charged again. I went to the website AT&T.com/directbill and got to stop the subscription. But I won’t know till later if it actually terminated the subscription or not. On the website I was asked why I wanted to unsubscribe and get a refund and when answered it said unable to refund. So hopefully the subscription was terminated and I never get charged again.
The one thing that bothers me most though is the fact that this has been going on for what seems like years and no good has seem to come out of it.
For those filing claims I would like to know the outcome. To see if there is hope or not.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:12 am
I got my ATT bill and saw this mblox charge. I know I never purchased anything like this and when i called they gladly put that purchase block on my account for me. This seems like some kind of a scam.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I did some sort of survey online or quiz..i can’t remember, but as soon as i realized this was a scam i exited out and i still got a $19.99 charge on my phone bill from mblox! I immediately called att and they happily credited my account and cancelled this so called subscription. It’s a small pain in the (you know what) but att took care of the matter quickly.
November 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pm