PhonepayPlus orders two Dutch companies to refund people it 'misled'

Two Dutch companies which ran premium-rate phone competitions have been ordered by PhonepayPlus to give customers a refund.

The premium rate phone regulator also fined the Amsterdam-based R&D Media Europe and Una Valley BV £100,000 for misleading people. The companies were using misspelled versions of the web addresses of well-known sites such as Wikipedia and Twitter, a con known as typo squatting.

People expecting to get to the legitimate companies were then conned into taking part in competitions. The users were not given clear information about any charges.

So were shocked to find they answered a few questions and entered their mobile phone numbers, they began receiving text messages with more surveys and quizzes. These texts cost them £1.50 to receive and a further £1.50 if they replied.

Paul Whiting, PhonepayPlus chief executive said: "These judgements send a clear message to providers that they cannot play on the public's trust in well-known websites to promote services."

The regulator has produced a guide about typo squatting and advice on how people can keep themselves safe.