Love Calculator – Vodafone and Google shame

Posted byLance Wiggs 40 Comments on Love Calculator – Vodafone and Google shame

I really hadn’t looked at the scam that is love calculator. Google ads are still displaying for these fraudsters. Juha has the full run down.

Step one: click on a google ad (still displaying!)

Step 2: enter your name, mobile number and star sign

lovecalulator scam

Step 3: enter a code that was txt’d to you. “Your pin code is xxxx. Enter it into the website to receive the name of your Love Soul Mate”

Step 4: get reamed charged shafted according to that fine print on the 2nd page:

“Summary terms: By calculating your perfect match and by entering your personal PIN Code which will be sent to the mobile phone number supplied by you on this website, you acknowledge that you are subscribing to a bi-weekly horoscope. All plans are subject to the Terms and Conditions. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending a text message with STOP, to short code 2228. Your phone must have text messaging capability. The love calculation is priced at $5. The weekly horoscope is sent twice weekly and is priced at $5 per horoscope with a $5 club joining fee. Standard text messaging rates may apply. Information? 0800440619. Please click here to see full Terms and Conditions. “

That’s $5 for the love calc, $5 to join, $5 for the first horoscope – so the first time you see a charge there will be $15 worth. What calculating con artists. There was no mention on any other page, nor on the txt. So why does Vodafone still let these guys operate? (I’m not sure if Telecom does because I cannot test it). Why does Google still let these guys advertise? Scammers have no place in NZ. Shut them down please.

Scoopit!

Published by Lance Wiggs

@lancewiggs

40 replies on “Love Calculator – Vodafone and Google shame”

  1. I complained to Google and asked them pull the ads but didn’t even get an auto-response back.

    Not so nice, and perhaps indicative of how little we matter to the Google Giant?

    Like

  3. I was being scammed on one of the similar ads about getting 5 free texts per day, end up being charged $5 from my acc :(

    Like

  5. Pingback: Some, not all, Love calculator ads closed down by ASA « Lance Wiggs

  6. I am only 14 and typed in my number just to see but didnt sign up and now they are taking £3 of my credit every two days! is there anything i can do to stop them as i dont have enough money anymore!!! :(

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  7. Hannah
    Look on the website and on their email to you – I think there is a way to cancel.
    Also – call your mobile phone company and ask them to block the txts and remove the charges. Tell them you are 14 and ask them why this could happen and demand a refund…..
    you are too young to enter into a legally binding contract, so ask both parties for a full refund.

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  8. Pingback: Remove yourself from love lover and crush calculator txts « Lance Wiggs

  9. Ahhh, I just got the pin code sent to my phone only I didn’t enter my phone number into any website!
    Someone is trying to screw me!
    Thankfully when I googled the text in the message it led me here and told me that it was a huge scam which has proved to me that one of my friends is out to screw me!

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  11. [rant]
    Wow – Is this even ethically legal?? I’d be surprised if it were. Don’t you need to actually confirm authorization of any precise charges in a REALLY LUCID AND OBVIOUS manner?

    I’m already financially unstable and completely in debt and now I’ve lost another bit unethically to the deceitful and exploitive scam of some random, scheming, socially-selfish/immoral and illegit “company”?

    For the strong and much needed sake of principle, is there any way we/I can get our/my money back? And once again, HOW IS THIS EVEN ETHICALLY LEGAL? GEEZ!
    [/rant]

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  12. whao thanks i have been trying to find the website again to figure out how to unprescribe. yikes.
    so again thanks i googled and found this.
    keep up the good work

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  13. The scam is happening here in Australia too. The international company that is running it is called Mobile Messenger http://www.mobilemessenger.com/ and they link up with all the major mobile service providers (I’m with 3 mobile). They have a call center set up here in Sydney that is specifically devoted to calls from people trying to find out how to stop this service once they see it appear on their bill. To get a weekly horoscope sms delivered to my mobile (for the incorrect star sign mind you!), I am charged $6.60 per message. On the website, you’ll find call center numbers for several countries, the US, Canada, UK, Ireland and New Zealand. They appear to have offices in Australia, the US, New Zealand and India. They wouldn’t give me the exact address for security reasons, I said “I bet”. I do have their Australian Business Number though (a number used for taxation purposes) if anyone wants it.

    The company was set up in 1999 (according to the website) and has grown exponentially by scamming people, but remember, this is with the cooperation of the telcos who get a kick back from them as well. They also comply with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (according to the very cheeky “customer service” operator I spoke with), and I’m more than welcome to go to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. Judging from the cockiness of the company, they’ve got all the legal side of it stitched up.

    The site I supposedly signed up on was http://perfectlover.com.au and the only time you get to see any terms and conditions is a link on the last page which has a timer on it – you have to submit the pin code they sent you on your phone in 2 minutes or you won’t ever know your perfect match, and the terms and conditions page which you have to click on (the tick box to agree to it is pre ticked of course) brings up a small window with the terms and conditions. The part about being charged anything is quite a way in, it’s 7 pages long in Word! So you’re meant to read that in 2 minutes? The guy I spoke to said it’s all made very clear on the website. It does have all the info in it though, I just looked at it then using a fake mobile number (then messaged that number just in case).

    These people are low life scum, I’ll grant you that, but the fact is that the profit driven system we live in totally supports this kind of behavior. It’s not that different to your boss cajoling you into working overtime and then not paying you for it. So while it might make us feel a bit better relating our experiences here, this sort of shit will continue until we collectively do something about it; not just these vermin scammers, but the whole rotten system of capitalism.

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  14. This company is made of scum. The are not ethical and should be stopped from operation. They need to be upfront of what the charges are BEFORE letting you subscripting to their services and NOT when the bill comes in a month or two. By that time it’s money wasted. If you have charges from your phone company DO NOT pay for them because a third party had scammed you.

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  16. We at Mobile Messenger would like to assist you with your concern or complaint. If you need assistance in regards to being unsubscribed or other related issues, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please call 1300-766 915 Monday to Friday 0900 – 1700 EST or email escalationsau@sms-helpdesk.com.

    Like

  17. Yeah, spotted these guys ages ago, keep seeing them all the time, really makes my blood boil, worst scam still going on adwords that I know of, not a good look for Google.

    Fuckwits have been all over facebook as well. Different name, different advertising networks, same tricks, presume same bunch of bastards running it all.

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  19. Even after cancelling by sending stop. By also cancelling on the freephone number supplied by Mobile Messenger. Speaking to Telecom NZ (who were absolutely useless). And told me to do all of the above. The next day I received another message on this phone and another $4 dollars was stolen. I have subsequently removed the last of the money off this prepay and will bin it. Telecom NZ have these pathetic people that are all very nice on the phone but don’t actually know anything, can’t do anything.

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  21. I am not sure how you feel like you got scammed. It says on the first page (where you are typing in your name) there is a $9.99/wk charge. These are all over the web – especially facebook. They just have to get a couple of suckers and the make money for doing basically nothing.

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  22. Why can’t people be accountable for your their own actions? If you don’t agree to the charges and terms and conditions that ARE published on the website then don’t sign up! It’s as simple as that. By giving your personal details and sending back the PIN code you are entering a legally binding contract – which you have the option to opt-out of should you chose.

    Grow up, take responsibility for your actions and read the fine print. If it was your juvenile, impressionable child that has signed up to the service because they ‘didn’t know any better’ then as a parent you should be paying more attention to your kids and educating them.

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  23. To stop the services send

    STOP

    to the number the message came from.

    By the way David, you’re a dick.

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  24. In NZ there is a 0800 number listed for information.

    Keep dialing it from your cellphone and it’ll cost them $$$.
    You can dial 0197 before the 0800 number wich will withold your number from a caller ID display and then they can’t see the number you are calling from.

    The number is 0800440619

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  25. Oh yeah,
    Like Daniel said… David, you’re a dick.

    These people are out to scam you so they should be stopped regardless.

    Like

  26. Not quite love but this one is a real catch…

    http://celebiqwars.com/helen-clark/

    You get to do an IQ test and then enter a cell number to receive the results. If you read the bottom of the page you are actually signing up.. I ended up here from the stuff site! I guess you cannot choose who you get your marketing money from!

    Like

  27. Im on Telecom and would like to kno why everytime i go to send STOP to 2228 the message does not send.

    – Yes, my phone is of text messaging capability
    – Yes, I was dum enough to sign up for Love Calculator
    – Yes, even though i have no credit on my mobile i still recieve the odd txt every two days which sez i have been blocked from recieving a chargeble txt blah blah blah.

    When i do have credit, guess where its gonna go?

    HELP!

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    1. i have the exact sam problem. now i have no credit because of this treacherous scam and text STOP to the numbers but it isn’t working.

      this won’t stop. i’ve even called the helpline with no help at all from the staff, infact she was very rude to me and hung up on me.

      is a nightmare.

      IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO STOP THIS, REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE TO LET ME KNOW!!

      Like

      1. okay, so i found out how to stop it. i followed AI advise and dialed 0197 before dialing 0800 440 619 then you simply dial in your mobile number then press # rather than the number you are being sent the text by.

        i was then sent a text from the number saying that i have been unsubscribed.

        all the best if you are struggling with this. kia kaha.

        Like

  31. i phoned telecom as well and got the run around and i just hung up in the morons ear but i was told by another helpfull person that this IS a telecom number but the recent person even refused to tell me who the carrier is

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  32. What if as many people as possable to dial both 0800 448803 and 0800440619 and make sure you use the 0197 prefix (0197 0800440619)
    (0197 0800 448803)and have a go at these scumbag morons

    Like

  33. If this is the same website (lovecalculator.co.nz)
    registrant_contact_name: MobileFone
    registrant_contact_address1: 20 Gateway Blvd
    registrant_contact_address2: Canning Vale
    registrant_contact_city: Perth
    registrant_contact_province: WA
    registrant_contact_postalcode: 6155
    registrant_contact_country: AU (AUSTRALIA)
    registrant_contact_phone: +61 8 94556746
    registrant_contact_email: support@mobilefone.com.au

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  34. These love calculator scam adds are on very high rotation on almost EVERY channel on Foxtel (Aussie Pay TV, they even advertise on the Science channel! WTF!) and on Prime Television and Southern Cross Ten (regional free tv networks in NSW, ACT and Victoria, Australia) usually with either Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” or Timbaland’s “Apologize” on the soundtrack. It is such a scam, I don’t believe Foxtel or free tv stations would sink low to air these adds. Jam$ter/Ringtone King, Salsa, MobileActive and the like are spending money on add time on Foxtel, Prime and Southern Cross Ten like there’s no tomorrow so that they can $cam as many people as possible!

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  35. and I like to see the Australian Government ban all ringtone/games/love calculator/babes mobile phone adds from all forms of television in the same way they banned cigarette adds in the 1970s.

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  36. We at Mobile Messenger would like to assist you with your concern or complaint. If you need assistance in regards to being unsubscribed or other related issues, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please call 1-800-416-6129 Monday to Friday 0600 – 1800 US Pacific Time or email blog@sms-helpdesk.com. For assistance in Australia, please call 1-300-766 915 Monday to Friday 0900 – 1700 EST or email escalationsau@sms-helpdesk.com.

    SANDRA
    MOBILE MESSENGER

    Like

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