Text Message Fraud: Part 1 of 2
My Sprint bill contained an odd new charge this month: SJA Mobile: Alerts – SJA Mobile Alerts – 01/03 $4.99
I had never heard of SJA Mobile, so I dug around on their website. It seems that all they do is offer refunds. But for what service?
It looks like SJA Mobile acquires lists of cell phone numbers, sends blank or meaningless text messages to each number, and then adds $4.99 or $9.99 to the customer’s bill each month until the victim customer figures it out and cancels.
They’re very good at issuing refunds, because it’s all they do.
While I never opted-in for SJA Mobile, through their agreement with Sprint they were apparently able to start charging me with no questions asked.
At Skydeck we believe that anyone should be able to send a text message to anyone else, but premium services should require ‘double opt-in’ before charging. I spoke with Sprint about the issue. While the conversation went well and ended with the service rep filing a fraud report against SJA Mobile, one of the first explanations I was given surprised me because it implied that their partners can bill for services on an opt-out basis: “SMS businesses under contract with Sprint can send text messages to Sprint’s customers, and begin charging them if the recipients don’t ‘opt-out’ of their service”. The only SMS I ever received from SJA’s short code (23907) contained the following message: ” … “. Seriously, that’s it. I was supposed to recognize that “…” meant I was now enrolling in a $4.99 per month service, and had to opt-out?
More details on SJA Mobile
The SJA Mobile website contains no information about their service. It only discusses how to cancel the “service” and get a refund.
I wanted to get to the bottom of this so I called their support line, which was no more than an automated message instructing me to email them if I was looking for a refund. The auto-reply from the email I sent them is below.
——-
Dear Dan Lewis
Thank you for contacting Mobile Support Services Help Desk. A help desk [sic]representive[sic] will review your request and respond shortly.
If you are trying to cancel service, please text STOP to the short code 23907.
If you are requesting a refund, please read the following carefully:
We offer a full, “no questions asked” refund to anybody who is unhappy with a service they signed up for within 180 days of signing up for the service. In order to request a refund, please make sure that your service request clearly provided the following information:
1) Name
2) Mailing Address
3) Mobile Phone Number
4) Wireless Carrier
Refunds will be issued via cashier’s check within 2 weeks of your refund request. Please be aware that we are offering the refund out of goodwill and are not recognizing any statutory duty by doing so.
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I wrote back to SJA expressing my suspicions, and they offered to pay me $5.00 in addition to the refund amount of $4.99, for any trouble this may have caused me.
Their last email claimed, “we are merely a gateway provider for mobile billing so we are unsure why one of our clients has billed you.” However, the mysterious text message “…” came from their short code, they could not identify which of their “clients” was responsible for the charges, and they don’t produce the names of any partners they work with anywhere on their site, etc.
What happened next … SJA Mobile Part 2.
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**Note**
We have received a few comments that mistakenly blame Skydeck for the charges appearing on people’s bills. We are not affiliated with with SJA Mobile in any way, and we ourselves have fallen victim to their fees. To get a refund you must contact SJA Mobile or your carrier directly, and to cancel the service you must text “STOP” to their short code, 23907. We will remove comments that imply Skydeck is responsible, to avoid being grouped with companies like SJA.
I just got my AT&T wireless bill, and it had one bill item from “GOLIVEMOB”, a credit from them same day (I called AT&T first, and then also texted “STOP”). Then this bill had the SJAMOBILE charge. All for $19.99 each. AT&T gave no hassle about backing off the charge, but this is our time wasted in response. They told me (both times) that nothing could be done to block.
Thanks for the info.
I work for a major cell phone company. The messages are called premium text messages. If you put a block on the premium text message, which can be done by calling into customer service or by the carriers website, This will block premium text messages. However, you will still see one more month of charges, so you need to unsibscribe first and then issue a block. I had this premium text message signed up for to my aircard modem! I do not even play games and do not need this silly service. When I called the 1-800 number that is provided, just like I tell my customers to do, the email address provided was not even a real address. Someone needs to do something about these companies. Because this is wrong. The vast majority of people do not sign up these texts. The premium texts are from a third party vendor and the phone carrier is not supposed to issue credits for these charges. Sometimes I will issue a credit for someone who is elderly or does not have access to the internet, just as a courtesy. I, as a customer service rep, will get in trouble if someone finds out I have been giving credits for premium text messages.
I am a Sprint customer. I just had the same experience as most others who posted here… out of nowhere a 19.95 additional charge two months in a row to SJA alerts. This came on a phone line we don’t even use so there is no way that we even opened the text message. The sprint rep I talked to told me there was nothing she could do.
I am also a Sprint customer. I had the same experiece with a $19.99 SJA Mobile Alerts charge come up in my bill. This is highway robbery! The sprint rep was slightly helpful, but said there was nothing she could do. She did block the service and put in a “unsubscribe and refund” request in for me. I also filed one on SJA’s website. We will see what happens.
I had a problem with SJA in August. I submitted a request for a ‘no questions asked’ refund with SJA when it occurred. I FINALLY received my refund check last week. I guess perseverance pays off!
I had the same thing happen. Called Sprint and they said they will request a refund for me. They blocked the company from billing me in the future. I texted STOP to the number. I will see what happens.
New Cancel Number 97000
If you are trying to cancel service, please text STOP to the short code 97000
I was recently charged 19.99 by GOLIVEMOB. I have AT&T wireless. They don’t know how or why the charge appeared but removed it. They are trying to track down the source. Fraud via email has now turned into FRAUD via cell phone.
I recently got my bill and had a 9.99 charge on it also…i did not subscribe to this. i work for a wireless carrier and see these problems everyday. although, the carriers are good about stopping the charges and refunding the charges it is a hassle that we dont need to worry about. I was also subscribed to another charge i did not subscribe for that they didn’t speak english and cursed at me while on the phone trying to tell them to stop charging me. Also, becareful when giving your phone number out when applying for things because it isn’t secure…
I left a comment on here in October about SJA charges on my Sprint bill that I did NOT in any how sign up for. I was charged 3 months in a row $19.99. When I called Sprint they said there was nothing they could do. I was pissed and took the advice of others from this site and filed a FCC complaint. Yesterday I rec’d a call from someone at Sprint regarding the FCC complaint and they have finally refunded my money or at least gave me a credit for the full amount of $59.97. I would advise everyone to do this. It worked for me anyways. Good Luck!!
I have AT&T and just found this on my phone as well. There charging me 19.99 for this and I never heard of it till I found this site about it. I am going to call AT&T tomorrow so I hope something is done
Add me to the list. My story is the same as the dozens of others here, and who knows how many thousands more. This is outrageous. The carriers must know what is going on. Obviously they play along because they must be getting a rake off on all those 9.99 charges. This should be turned over to the regulatory authorities so they can put a stop to a blatant fraud.
I blocked my Sprint account last month. Sure enough they changed from TM to Games and hit me again this month. Sprint has issued instant credit both times (less than 5 min on phone) Today the Sprint CS person said it takes 2 mo billing cycle for the block to take affect so I “should” be OK now. You have to know that the scum in CO and DE are probably in Niger or somewhere. Seems the US Government can tap our lines but do nothing about these pigs.
Rcvd bill from at&t for mobile phone and found charge
for 9.99. Immediately called CS and objected to the
charge, since I had not used or authorized SJAMOBILE
for any services. According to CS will receive a
credit for 9.99 on next bill and they will block any
further attempts by sjamobile to charge me.I can’t
understand why the bums are allowed to do this. Guess
there is no oversight by FCC.
For those of you receiving those charges on your bill, I hate to say it but until you speak with the right CS rep, you pretty much stand the chance of going around and around. I am a rep for one the companies mentioned on here. To stop this issue from happening over and over again, unfortunately you have to catch it the first time. The regulations for these SMS does not help the consumer. If you see a text with the sender as numbers simply reply back to it with either the word “cancel” “unsubscribe” or “stop”. I get these calls weekly and most people I spoke to already erased the text. All I can do is issue a credit and transfer them to Tech Support. I am still looking for ways to stop this from happening. It only happened once to me so I add my cell number to the national Do not call list.
I work for Sprint and see this all the time. We have a tool called PMG Messaging that lets us pull up all 3rd party messaging that are charged via text. We have the options to block all short codes such as these, opt out or just block one. We also have the option to request a refund so don’t let a rep tell you they can’t. I work in the chat division so you may get better results chatting in. As for why these charges appear??? I still have no clue
2 months in a row, my son’s phone and my husband’s. Its upto $9.99 each time. Sprint has blocked the “third party that we are not affiliated with” and removed the charges. I would agree that Sprint is VERY difficult to work with. Hint…tell them you are extremely irritated and are going to leave and you want to talk to someone in RETENTION….if they cant give you what you want, leave. The others who work overseas can do nothing, the only ones who can help and make a REAL change are in retention. Its worth the time….
I must have an old phone, because JSA Mobile just hit with two charges for $9.99 each. I submitted a refund request, and am anticipating (?) a refund in 6 weeks. I have as yet been unable to get the billing removed by T-Mobile, but I will keep trying
At&t customer here…. This morning I started my day with a call to them. This is the 3rd month since I reported “Quios Alerts/23907″ which charges me a whopping $10.64 additional to my monthly bill! I have not ordered or agreed to this billing! I first reported this to At&t in May and they have credited my bill each month after. They also added a “block” in May. So why does it continue?? Results of today are, a credit to my account (again), checked to see if “block” was in place (it was), an appology (thank you) and they added an allert for At&t if it comes on again. At this time they will turn it over to their “special” team to investigate and take care of it and I will not have to be involved anymore! Next month will tell if this really happens. Go At&t, after 3 month they are on the ball, or are they?
please i never knew about your company or the charges to my cel phone which is t -mobile why and how was i added to your billings to charge me about 10 dollares a month.
i just notice this on my cel phone bill and i was very angry that T-MOBILE JUST CHARGE ME WITH OUT ASKING ME IF I WANTED THIS SERVICE,I DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU DO FOR ME,I AM 78 YEARS OLD AND DO NOT NEED OTHER CASH PROBLEMS.
I HAVE TOLD T-MOBLE TO STAY PAYMENT TO YOUR COMPANY AND THEN TO HEAR I WAS CHARGE FOR 7 MONTHS BY YOUR COMPANY,PLEASE TELL ME HOW WAS I ADDES TO YOU BILLING DEPARTMENT,I NEED SOME ANSWER ABOUT SUCH THINGS,
I SEE I HAVE TO STOP AUTOMATICDE BILL PAYMENTS
AND READ MY BILLS SOME HOW EVEN IF I AM NOT HOME TO READ MY MAIL FOR MONTHS,
T-MOBLE 1 352 870 8288 HAS BEEN BLOCKED FR PAYING ANY MORE SUCH BILL TO ANY ONE BUT CHARGES FR T -MOBLLE
THANK YOU JOHN ZLOTNICK
Hi Folks,
For those who are told to contact Quios for SJAMobile charges, please read the following.
Quios is in no way responsible for any SJAMobile charges, yet, people are being told by their cellphone carrier(s) to contact us for resolution.
We believe the reason for this confusion is that SJAMobile uses an aggregator to send messages to your carrier and this aggregator might (accidentally) be giving your carrier the wrong contact information for SJAMobile, so when you call to complain, your carrier tells you to contact to the wrong people.
Please direct complaints to SJAMobile or their aggregator.
Thank You