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02 August 2004 Mirago Clamps Down on Rogue Online Advertisers Mirago, a provider of internet search results, has announced today that it is banning any identified rogue internet diallers from advertising on its network. The UK is currently facing a wave of irresponsible service providers (SPs) that are using internet diallers to charge unsuspecting end users for adult and non-adult services (including MP3 downloads) having already burnt their bridges in other overseas markets. Mirago has decided to take action to help stop this fraudulent behaviour by preventing them from operating across its entire network. Recent ICSTIS* regulations mean that all legitimate dialler companies that want to run premium rate services will need to obtain its permission prior to operating. Genuine diallers will produce clear warnings to an end-user about any cost implications and unambiguous confirmation from the user is also required. Mirago will liaise with ICSTIS to confirm advertisers with acceptable services. It will continually check the list of those Internet services under investigation and refuse access to any advertising activity from those companies. Users most at risk from internet dialling fraud are those with modems, where malicious code can sit unknowingly on a computer until a user connects to the Internet Service Provider (ISP). Unbeknown to the users this code secretly terminates a dial-up connection and reconnects to a premium rate number instead, resulting in shockingly high phone bills. Currently this practice is not illegal in the UK unlike certain other countries such as the USA. The software can be hidden in a variety of ways such as within a ‘pop-up’ - that is often deliberately mislabelled so when you select the ‘close’ button, you actually accept installation. It can also disguise itself in movie or music files. Leigh Tomlinson, business development manager at Mirago, said: “We strongly condemn this type of practice and we want to protect our users from this outrageous and costly scam. “Banning these businesses from using our search engine network is a positive step in fighting back against internet fraud and we anticipate that other search engines will soon follow suit, and hopefully, help eliminate this problem completely from the UK.” *ICTSTIS – Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services. |
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