A premium rate shortcode company has been fined £300,000 for breaching the PhonePayPlus Code of Practice on pricing, fair and equitable treatment and providing misleading information.

The regulator received 127 complaints in relation to the Amazecell Trivia service. It sent six trivia questions to consumers charged at £5 per text, with the promise of a chance to win an iPhone or iPad.

A number of the complainants had been directed to the service by misleading promotions on websites, including Facebook. Some completed surveys with the promise of a free £175 Tesco voucher, the opportunity to win theme park tickets, see who had viewed their Facebook profile or get access to a video clip.

After partcipating, consumers appeared to have unintentionally entered the service. Amazecell was fined £300,000 and told to refund the people who had made a claim.

A similar case, where mBill Pty’s prizeKing service offered a range of subscription and non-subscription quizzes charged at £4.50 per week or one-off payments of between £9 and £18, has resulted in a £150,000 fine.

The service breached the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice for failure to disclose information, fair and equitable treatment, providing misleading information and charging without consent.
The majority of complainants said the text messages provider were unsolicited and that they had not requested or consented to be charged. The complainant accounts were consistent with users entering the service via affiliate marketing on social networks or via pop-ups on websites.