Given the nature of this thievery, I had no interest in trying to contact this organization to stop the charge. Apparently their website re-directs to a password protected site and any calls are fruitless, you either get hung up on or validation that you will be charged AGAIN. No need to play by the rules when dealing with crooks. Calling up AT&T, I had the charge reversed and put a block on my account for text purchases. And further research showed that the common denominator may be Vistaprint, a printing service that provides free business cards. But I am just totally amazed how easy it was to scam me for $9.99, very hard to pick it up since my cellphone billing is primarily done online and electronically.
But it also made me think about the future of text-message advertising and marketing which is in its infancy. When one of your first experiences with text-message marketing is a scam, do you start to distrust the medium? I mean email survived all the Nigerian prince scams but those were plainly criminal and no money was lost without interaction. In this text-message case, I've lost $10 just due to the fact I didn't pay close enough attention to my texts and my electronic billing.
All I know is that companies who are at the early wave of text-message marketing really need to make sure these rogue companies and communication legislation with regards to e-commerce and texting are handled properly. Because without trust and credibility, these thieves can taint the entire industry. And while I don't think these scammers are common, one bad experience has made my cellphone off-limits to future purchases. I recently read an article about how your cellphone number is your most guarded piece of information after your social-security number. After this experience, I'd have to say I totally agree!
