Err wtf? Did you know that you can be billed...

[Mutilator]

... for simply CLOSING a pop-up banner?
Link
People who click on the ads have to pay, but that is not always made clear. Judy Poole of Person County found that out the hard way when she received a bill for $181 from Alyon Technologies.

Poole was billed for "Premium Adult Content". Her software is supposed to block those types of sites, so she thought it was a mistake. Then, one of her teenage children admitted he opened one of the ads and repeatedly visited the site. He was not asked for a credit card or other payment information, so he thought it was free. The site charges $4.99 per minute.

The state Attorney General's Office has 70 complaints against the company. Some complaints involve minors; others are from people who did not visit the sites. They were billed for closing the pop-ups.

Saw that on the news this morning.

 

[Double Trouble]

They can try to bill you, but that doesn't mean you have to pay. Ultimately, they have to prove that you agreed to pay for certain services (there has to be an implied contract). I'm guessing you'd have a very very easy time showing that no such contract existed, and you wouldn't pay a thing.

The company is just trying to take advantage of those who might not know how to handle the situation and be intimidated into paying......

 

[alareau]

haha the kid got caught looking at porn :/

I didn't think they were allow to bill unless you agreed to it.

 

[Heisenberg]

How the hell do they find out who you are?

 

[Double Trouble]

That's the other question: how would they even know who to bill?.... unless of course you were stupid enough to provide that information. Even then, if that information is provided by a minor, it could be an infraction of the law to collect that info, and a minor cannot enter into a legally binding contract anyway.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
How the hell do they find out who you are?

AOL premium services has a billing system built in, theres a ton of people getting nailed on there for services they think are free but are not... other than AOL i dont know of any other way to bill other than direct connecting to a 900 number with a modem.

 

[fumbduck]

You can also be billed for calling other countries with your telephone.

Crazy world.

 

[Mutilator]

Originally posted by: fumbduck
You can also be billed for calling other countries with your telephone.

Crazy world.

That's a little different... everybody assumes the internet is for the most part anonymous... meaning a company wouldn't know where you were to bill you. I guess the AOL premium services billing mentioned above makes sense though.

Wow... did I just say AOL makes sense?! :Q

 

[fumbduck]

Originally posted by: Mutilator

Originally posted by: fumbduck
You can also be billed for calling other countries with your telephone.

Crazy world.

That's a little different... everybody assumes the internet is for the most part anonymous... meaning a company wouldn't know where you were to bill you. I guess the AOL premium services billing mentioned above makes sense though.

Wow... did I just say AOL makes sense?! :Q

I sure hope not!

Thats just like naming your cat 'Burt Reynolds'.

 

[Venix]

Look here, this article explains how Alyon screws people.

 

[Mutilator]

Originally posted by: Venix
Look here, this article explains how Alyon screws people.

According to the FTC, the defendants use a modem dialing program to disconnect consumers from their own Internet service providers and reconnect them to the Alyon's network without the consumers' authorization or approval.

Using the dialing program, the defendants allegedly capture the telephone number used by the modem and match it against several databases of line subscriber information, databases which frequently contain errors. The line subscribers identified as responsible for the captured telephone number later receive bills charging them $4.99 a minute for each minute the defendants claim videotext services were purchased, regardless of whether the line subscribers authorized the purchase.

Broadband users don't have to worry anymore... you can go back to your porn surfing now.

 

[FoBoT]

don't have a modem connected to your PC, they use redialers to connect you to 900 #'s

 

[dman]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
don't have a modem connected to your PC, they use redialers to connect you to 900 #'s

No modem = No dialtone = No phone call. Or if they are routing you through a service that dials into something else via your broadband connection, they'd have to have gotten your information some other way and may as well have billed you directly instead of through some kind of redialer. eitherway, that doesn't make sense as a scam...

 

[Chadder007]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
How the hell do they find out who you are?

IB it was a site that asked for his address to access "free" pron or something. I doubt it has anything to do with pop ups causing him to be billed, he had to put in some information.

Edit: Yep, it was probably a redialer program then.