Last week I received a Fax from 'Fax Back Directory'.
The Fax read:

Dear Recipient,

Your Fax number has been sold to us by nAuction Adverts, NY. Your Fax number will be listed on our database to receive advertising of a business nature. If this type of advertising isn't appropriate to be sent to you, please indicate now.

They wanted me to Fax them back on 07005 100 400

Today I have received another from what appears to be another company asking broadly the same but from a different company. The address for this company is given as T-302, Vasundhra Valley, Plot No GH3, Vasundhra Ghaziabad-201012. After which they write 'Delivered from New York USA'.

They wanted me to Fax them back ASAP on 07005 15 15 15

I have had similar Faxes in the past usually using 0870, 0871 or 09.

However they stopped when I registered with Fax Preference Service. Needless to say I have not responded. Has anyone else had this problem recently?  It's obviously a scam. Does anyone know if this is against Ofcom rules?

padarn (first post!)

It's a scam.
I think that 070 numbers are outwith ICSTIS' remit, but tell them and Ofcom. Yup, prossibly no immediate action, but they need to be told so that the case can be built up.
It smacks of playground bullying or a simple protection racket [mind yer car for 50p, mister]. >:(
Time to pull the number?

Reminds me of a few years ago when I had an unsolicited fax suggesting that they knew I didn't want these and to fax back on I think an 09 number to register to stop unsolicited faxes. Their ready made form had lots of black to slow down transmission speed and increase revenue and I presume their receiving fax was set to maximum resolution as well to further prolong the revenue. As I'm registered with both phone and fax preference, I spoke to the FPS and it turns out that "reputable" sales callers have to buy and subsribe to TPS or FPS to get a monthly list of numbers (on CD?) NOT to ring/call, hence the advice that it may take 2 months for your request to become effective. Turns out that the fax sender had subscribed and had a talior made customer base! Part of me must give him credit for working this out! I believe his abuse was stopped. I recall the cost to the sales companies was in the order of £4000 plus monthly subs for new updates. Can anyone add more details of how the TPS/FPS is funded? Bill

It seems ICSTIS do not regulate these calls. This is what it came up with when I entered the number in their automatic checker:

This is what we know about the number you entered (07005151515).

ICSTIS does not regulate this type of number. However we can tell you the following.
This is classified as being used for Personal Numbering.
It is provided by 1RT Group Ltd.

This is what we know about the number you entered (07005100400).

ICSTIS does not regulate this type of number. However we can tell you the following.
This is classified as being used for Personal Numbering.
It is provided by 1RT Group Ltd.

Ofcom suggest I complain to FPS. Which I shall.

Yes there was loads of black in the fax.

1RT or 1st rate telecome has gone bust.

I used to have two 070's with them which no longer

I think the MD, jody somthing has been in trouble with ictis loads and loads of times, hes been banned numerous times and just keeps creating new companies.

Just received another scam fax. This time different trick. The fax took ages to come down, loads of black shading . It reads:

Get 2Mb Broadband for only £9.99 per month !!!!!
Can we send you our weekly fax offers?

State YES more info please or Stop NO (boxes to tick)

Please mark the appropriate box and fax this form to O7005 100 600.

Written details on request

Information provided by BeBroadband,06.

If you are a residential customer, please tick this box, we'll update our records and clean our lists.


Did a ICSTS check which came out with this info:


This is what we know about the number you entered (07005100600).

ICSTIS does not regulate this type of number. However we can tell you the following.
This is classified as being used for Personal Numbering.
It is provided by 1RT Group Ltd.

Same company as last lot (different front).

Will add this to my complaints list.

Someone must be making a fortune.


Padarn

I've just done a search on 1RT GROUP LIMITED (Company no. 05150214) and according to Companies House, the sole director is :-

Jody Robert Rhodes
2 Woodland Drive
Barnt Green
Birmingham
West Midlands, B45 8FX

His dob is 7/3/78

He is also a director of :-

THERINGTONECHANNEL LIMITED Company no. 05431568

and

1RT LIMITED Company no. 05115923


I hope this is of interest.

padarn wrote on Jan 24^th, 2006 at 11:16am:

Did a ICSTS check which came out with this info: This is what we know about the number you entered (07005100600). ICSTIS does not regulate this type of number. However we can tell you the following. This is classified as being used for Personal Numbering. It is provided by 1RT Group Ltd.

Have found this:
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:_MI6zW3fFREJ:www.icstis.org.uk/pdfs_news/IMR80.pdf++Jody+%2BRhodes+%2BBirmingham&hl=en&client=firefox-a
which is an ICSTIS Bulletin from March 2001:


Quote:

ICSTIS AND OFTEL ACT AGAINST SERVICES ON 070 DIALLING CODES ICSTIS and Oftel have recently become very concerned by the noticeable increase in public complaints and other enquiries about services operating on 070 dialling codes which have all the characteristics of premium rate services (i.e. revenue share, value added content and charged to a telephone bill). Oftel has recently issued for consultation revisions to the National Numbering Conventions (inthe Conventionsli). Within this consultation document, Oftel makes clear that the 070 numbering range is only suitable for customers who habitually move location. For the avoidance of doubt, the 070 numbering range must not be used for services which fall within the definition of premium rate services (described elsewhere within the Conventions). ICSTIS, working with Oftel, is in the process of contacting networks which appear to be carrying services on 070 dialling codes in breach of the Conventions. It is hoped that networks will willingly comply with their licence obligations, but in any event ICSTIS will take regulatory action against service providers operating on 070 dialling codes and will commence enforcement from Monday 2 April 2001.

So clearly ICSTIS were, at one time, investigating 070 numbers.
Do they mean they no longer regulate them, or that that only investigate serious cases?

The same ICSTIS Bulletin also contains the following interesting extract:


Quote:

ASSOCIATED INDIVIDUALS The associated individual provisions in the Code of Practice enable ICSTIS, in cases where serious breaches of the Code have taken place, to formally name an individual and bar him or her in a personal capacity from running or being associated with a company which operates premium rate services for a defined period. Three individuals are currently named under the associated individual provisions in the Code of Practice: ... Jody Rodes, formerly trading as Brief Communications, for 2 years from 10 March 2000

The ICSTIS site http://www.icstis.org.uk/consumers/adjudications/barredsps.asp currently says:


Quote:

No individual is currently 'named' and barred under icstis' associated individual provisions.

and the fps (Fax Preference Service) site http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/cgi-bin/subscribers.pl?t=l&s=fps lists, as a current Licensee:


Quote:

1rt Group Ltd Bridge House 181 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4DZ Contact: Mr Jody Rhodes

I wonder whether, in the circumstances, you might find ICSTIS interested despite their 'standard disclaimer'?

Hope some of this may be of help.

P.S. I understand there is a way to hide a long link under a short reference like "here".  Can someone tell me how, please?

trevord wrote on Jan 24^th, 2006 at 1:54pm:

P.S. I understand there is a way to hide a long link under a short reference like "here".  Can someone tell me how, please?

See here.  ;)

Have received another three scam faxes this week. Two are the identical.

First reads:

Dear Recipient,

Your fax number was registered in Dec 2005(NOT BY ME) to receive business fax updates and advertising Features. Simply select type of information you are interested in.

Options (tick boxes with lots of shading): Direct Marketing, Data Protectioin, Website Google Ranking. Or Please remove my number from your database, I do not wish to receive any advertising from ANDERSON COMMUNICATIONS.

Please fax back this form to 07005 156 156

For free business fax advertising to over 1 million fax users try: www.cash4ads.co.uk

Advert content supplied by Anderson Communications, DUBAI.

THIS IS WHAT I FOUND ON WEBSITE:

'How does it work?
Your advert describing a product or service will be sent by fax or voice messaging to over 1 million Uk businesses.

Will I really get £150?
Absolutely, every new user who signs up from this website will receive a cheque for £150.

Why? How can you guarantee this?
We receive revenue from the businesses who receive your advertising.  The more adverts we send, the more revenue we generate.  And we can also guarantee that we will not charge you for using this service, it's free.

Who are you? I never heard of cash4ads.
We operate in the UK under a licensed issued by the government agency Ofcom, as a Telephone Network supplier called 1rt Group Ltd.

Is there anything else I need to know?
Yes, every time a new user registers and enters your name down as the referrer (you told them about the website) you'll get another cheque for £50. Everytime. And you'll also receive 10p per advert that gets a reply.

Your advert can be designed by us for free if you wish, based on the information you will need to supply on the register page. Or email us your advert preferably as a Microsoft word document.

The time it took you to read this page, you could have sign up earning you the £150 and we had probably sent out another 200 adverts for somebody else.



Did a ICSTS check which came out with this info:


This is what we know about the number you entered (07005156156).

ICSTIS does not regulate this type of number. However we can tell you the following.
This is classified as being used for Personal Numbering.
It is provided by 1RT Group Ltd.

Same company again  as last lot (different front).

Will add this to my complaints list.

Someone must be making a fortune.

The third fax is from Easy PC Help of Newport Gwent and reads:

'our weekly faxouts will give you advice on all topics- from word docs to spreadsheets.

easy PC help

Newport Gwent

Return this fax to 07059 171717

Please tick boxes. Options; 1. this is not a business line, 2.I do not want faxouts for computer help. Fax Number.................'

This is what we know about the number you entered (07059171717).

Did a ICSTS check which came out with this info:ICSTIS does not regulate this type of number. However we can tell you the following.
This is classified as being used for Personal Numbering.
It is provided by 1RT Group Ltd.

Hey guess what same crowd again!

Anyone else getting these?

 
Padarn

>:( Yes I have been receiving a deluge of faxes despite being registered with FPS. They are all, according to the Icstis website, from the people you have identified: 1RT Group. I am going to send off the Regulation 20 complaint form to the ICO. I am also going to write to my MP.
What other actions can I take?
Is it possible to identify the phone line provider?
Is it worth complaining to that company if I do identify them?
Can 1RT Group or the phone line provider be prosecuted for this and how do I help to ensure that that happens?
Thanks for any more advice !

mjk43 wrote on Feb 11^th, 2006 at 5:28pm:

>:( Yes I have been receiving a deluge of faxes despite being registered with FPS. They are all, according to the Icstis website, from the people you have identified: 1RT Group. ...

I suggest you report them to FPS.

1RT Group is the telecommunications company and not the service provider, so I don't know whether they would do anything/be interested.

Thank you. I have been reporting them to FPS and I get a standard reply each time from FPS thanking me and telling me that they have no enforcement powers and cannot take action against the company but they say that they will contact the company to ask them to investigate my complaint.
So I have been getting pretty frustrated !
I'd like to think that whoever is running 1RT is breaking the law and will be prosecuted - any chance of that ?

mjk43 wrote on Feb 11^th, 2006 at 6:09pm:

I have been reporting them to FPS and I get a standard reply each time from FPS thanking me and telling me that they have no enforcement powers and cannot take action against the company but they say that they will contact the company to ask them to investigate my complaint.

The FPS website actually offers to take up complaints on your behalf and then effectively says they can't do anything!  :'( :'(
http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/fps/complaints/

Quote:

Fax Preference Service Complaints System If your fax number has been registered on the Fax Preference Service over 28 days and you are still receiving unsolicited sales and marketing faxes you may wish us to take this up as a complaint on your behalf. Please send a copy of the fax noting the fax number it was received on and your contact details. We will confirm receipt of the complaint. The letter of confirmation will explain that we will contact the company concerned and then include the complaint on the regular report we send to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. It is this body that enforces the relevant Regulations; the Telecommunications (Data Protection and Privacy) Regulations 1999. If you wish to fax your complaints please send it to 020 7323 4322.

Maybe you should write to the Data Protection Commissioner and bypass the FPS.  :(

This may seem a perverse suggestion on this board, but my solution to the scam/junk faxes I was receiving was to sign up with e-fax who give you a free 0870 fax number!

I had signed up with fps but to no avail and was getting about 20 junk faxes a day. I have now cancelled my fax line and have got an e-fax. When I am sent a fax it comes as an attachment to an email so no paper is wasted at all.  Also, fax calls are usually very short so the extortionate costs of 0870 don't really apply, ie a 30 second call is still only 5p on BT. Strangely, I receive no junk faxes to my 0870 number!!!!! I realise there could be a problem with overseas faxes but this hasn't arisen yet and I don't receive many these days as 99% is done by email.

When I want to send a fax, I just plug in my usual line to the fax machine.

Ofcom has started an own initiative investigation into possible misuse of 070 personal numbers allocated to 1RT Group Ltd.

Details here.


Quote:

Ofcom has received several hundred complaints from consumers regarding fax back schemes being operated by The Faxback Directory and Auction Adverts on 070 numbers allocated to 1RT. It appears that the two companies send faxes to consumers, which state that their contact details will be included in a database to receive adverts by fax. Recipients are told that if they do not want to receive these adverts they can have their details removed from the database by faxing back on the 070 number provided. Complainants allege that when they fax back, the fax takes an extra long time to get through, resulting in high call charges. As part of its investigation, Ofcom intends to identify whether the fax back services in question are Personal Numbering Services and whether they are being run on the 070 numbers in a manner that is consistent with the Numbering Plan..

I have today received another Fax from 1st RT. This time NO 070... Number!

In the light of Dave's post of 1/3,

QUOTE:

'Ofcom has received several hundred complaints from consumers regarding fax back schemes being operated by The Faxback Directory and Auction Adverts on 070 numbers allocated to 1RT.

It appears that the two companies send faxes to consumers, which state that their contact details will be included in a database to receive adverts by fax. Recipients are told that if they do not want to receive these adverts they can have their details removed from the database by faxing back on the 070 number provided. Complainants allege that when they fax back, the fax takes an extra long time to get through, resulting in high call charges.

As part of its investigation, Ofcom intends to identify whether the fax back services in question are Personal Numbering Services and whether they are being run on the 070 numbers in a manner that is consistent with the Numbering Plan..'


perhapps Ofcom is having some effect. However this company seems to have a new way to exploit the situation.

The Fax reads:

'RECEIVE £150 Now at www.cash4ads.co.uk

Dear Recipient,

Please collect £150 today by registering at www.cash4ads.co.uk This offer is open to anyone. It's a genuine offer, you simply fill in our registration form and we'll send you £150.

If you asre sick of junk faxes don't get angry, complain to BT or the Fax Preference Service. Get even and get yourself £150 for a few minutes work. We'll even advertise your business or service that you may provide for free.

Please Visit  www.cash4ads.co.uk

This is not a junk fax, wasting your paper and ink.
collect your money today, this is a genuine offer!!!!!

If this is a private individual e.g. not a business you can still receive the money now at www.cash4ads.co.uk, If this wasn't genuine trading standards would shut us down!!!!!!!


THE SCAMS GO ON