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  #1  
Old 12-14-2006, 03:24 AM
Flatpete Flatpete is offline
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starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Avoid this text messaging service at all costs. I signed up thinking it was free, that I could get free messages, and a few other people have been caught by it. they charge 99 euro from europe £99 sterling if your in Britain, and with my luck £149.26.

This is a set up fee that they threaten to take you to court for. notice that I was charged 149.26. It said on the site that the £99 charge for set up included 16% vat, however they charged me £128 and added 16% for a set up fee making it £149. This being two weeks before christmas. I made the mistake of phoning them and saying that i would have £150 on friday this week. I later investigated the agreement to find that they changed the price plan and was entitled to terminate the contract, upon which they claimed by that phone call that I agreed with the new tariff. WHO AGREES WITH an outrageous £149 charge for 90 free text messages?

As said, I now have to pay this bill, as I phoned trading standards and they advised it.

Please for the love of mike, if you have had this same problem, post a comment, we shall create a group of people that will stamp out this lunacy. Many of those that are affected by it might not have the money for it, and a group ***** suing an unreasonable company has more ***** than one individual.

I have been fooled, I post this comment so that others will not be fooled by this group.

If you have recieved a bill do not reply until you read through the agreement, make copies of the website in case they change it on you. Remain persistent and call authorities to get advice, do not agree to pay out of fear, instead investigate, but never agree to something that seams out of the question.

***** to the People

Pete B

"Don't get caught with your fingers in my pie, mess with me and boy your surely gonna die.
If ever your in doubt about who or where I am, Im here I'm there, I am your Uncle Sam" - Primus - Electric Uncle Sam



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  #2  
Old 12-19-2006, 10:53 AM
meloncoly meloncoly is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

you didn't actually pay these scammers did you?

I signed up on their site about 6 months ago if not more, and they tried to charge me about 70 quid or so.

I told them I'm not paying etc... nothing has happened to me, I did give them fake contact details when signing up.

Still, I would definitely not pay them, they said they would refer me to a debt collection agency, simply using my IP address, which is bollocks, as there's no way my ISP would give them my info.

Also, their "UK Office" is one of those forwarding offices, to make it look like they have a prime uk address, they can't touch you from abroad where they are.



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  #3  
Old 12-23-2006, 01:26 AM
fri3ndly fri3ndly is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Hi.

I received my badly written English letter today from these *******s. Before this I have had 3 e-mails asking for the money and a text message. Unfortunately for me I signed up with correct details.

Im not quite sure what to do now.

I swear that when I signed up, I signed up to something that said it was absolutely free for the first 99 text messages, and then you start paying 5p each after that. I was obviously going to just use the free ones, and was not asked for any sort of payment when signing up so how the hell can they send me a bill for £149!!! Just for clicking a few buttons??!!! Im 19 years old and wanted to send a few text messages, a sign up fee of £149?? WHAT!!

Anyway, I have visited the website that I originally signed up from and now it is completely different and says that it has a £99 set up fee etc.

My girlfriend tried to ring the number and was charged £1 for being on the phone for 10 seconds.

Its been playing on my mind a lot, and now even more so..... I may end up paying this now, but God, I will make them pay for this.

I found out that the owner of all the scam websites is a german guy called Christian Gersch, and one of his private e-mail addresses is

c.gersch@news.iglusoft.de

Feel free to send him as much junk and gay porn as you wish.

Iv got a good mind to fly over to stinking Germany just to smack him in the mouth.



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  #4  
Old 12-23-2006, 05:00 PM
meloncoly meloncoly is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

I got a letter too, I gave my real address, but a fake name, and will not be paying.

searching google I found this

"> Hello!

> I would like to register a company (if possible, a limited company) but
I'm
> just 15 years old and life in Germany - so it's IMPOSSIBLE!!!


> Do you think it would be possible in the USA (my max. capital is about $
> 5000)?


> Regards, Chris


> P.S.: I hope this is the right newsgroup! (o;
> --
> Christian Gersch
> c.ger...@iglusoft.com
> www.iglusoft-network.com
"

some little german scamming kid, do not pay him.



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  #5  
Old 12-23-2006, 10:35 PM
fri3ndly fri3ndly is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Damn. I paid (much to my parents advice). I really didnt want to as I thought it was dodgy and thet over there in Germany he couldnt do anything.

This is not the end of it though, he is going down.



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  #6  
Old 12-24-2006, 08:01 PM
Spike Spike is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

I've also been duped by these lot. i refuse to pay tho, luckily i didn't give them my real address or name.



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  #7  
Old 12-27-2006, 10:59 PM
debbieh debbieh is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

hey at least i aint the only twat that thinks these people are dicks.....

i also signed up cos i thought these 99 text msgs were free, now i have a bill for 99.29, yer right i dont think so , there is no way im paying this - and to a 15 yr old german.....

STAY WELL AWAY

i dont care what they say i am not paying - W*****S



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  #8  
Old 12-28-2006, 07:47 PM
Harkonnen Harkonnen is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Just DON'T PAY
I'll explain me. This hoax is already happened in France, Spain, Germany ... The European Consumer Center is already working in this. I had e-mails, mails from the company telling asking for the payment. I have just open a blog talking about it:

http://iglusoft.blogspot.com/http://iglusoft.blogspot.com/
now it's in spanish, i explain there what to do if this company is trying to cheat us. But I'll translate to english (my english :-) if i have petitions

In France they have already a open website because was well known the hoax.

http://www.victimes-eusms.fr

So don't pay, go to the European Consumer Center to ask for directions. And if you think that sombody is trying to cheat you denounce it at the competent athority.

Put a comment in my blog if somebody wants to know something more ....

And don't pay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Last edited by Harkonnen : 12-28-2006 at 07:56 PM.
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  #9  
Old 12-28-2006, 07:50 PM
Harkonnen Harkonnen is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Ahhh another thing, in the forums were people writing and encouraging the people to pay, people from the company of course but pretending that they were lawers, or users .....3
You should keep all the mails, e-mails, .... that they are sending you, don't delete it because after it will be useful to probe that they were trying to make a hoax /



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  #10  
Old 01-03-2007, 01:00 PM
shaz_nic shaz_nic is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

I too have recieved a letter (badly written might i add!) from them yesterday stating that they will take legal action if they do not recieve payment by 06.01.07. (I did unfortunately give correct details.) Anyway, they can take legal action. I am NOT paying, regardless of what they say. When i signed up to their website it did not state anything about a set-up fee. It was completely free. I have emailed the european consumer centre and await their response. I will post again when i get their reply.

Don't pay guys!

Sharon



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  #11  
Old 01-04-2007, 08:36 PM
Spike Spike is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

I've also e-mailed the ECC and am waiting to hear their reply but once i do i will post it here.



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  #12  
Old 01-04-2007, 08:36 PM
shaz_nic shaz_nic is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Ok guys,

Here's that advise i have been given so far. I have spoke to the Consumer Advise Centre and they have advised me to request a copy of the contract and proof that i have 'apparently' agreed. I will be sending a request to their so called regent street forwarding address via special delivery tomorrow.

I have also emailed these scammers and asked them to send me this information. To which all i got was some made up tosh at the bottom stating what i had apparently done.........no proof.

Consumer Advise centre have asked that i ask all who have been effected to contact them on: 08454 040506 so that they can help stop this from happening to others.

I'd be interested to know of any further information you guys find on this. Keeps the posts coming and lets stick together :)

Sharon



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  #13  
Old 01-07-2007, 11:06 PM
taty taty is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Quote:
Originally Posted by shaz_nic
I too have recieved a letter (badly written might i add!) from them yesterday stating that they will take legal action if they do not recieve payment by 06.01.07. (I did unfortunately give correct details.) Anyway, they can take legal action. I am NOT paying, regardless of what they say. When i signed up to their website it did not state anything about a set-up fee. It was completely free. I have emailed the european consumer centre and await their response. I will post again when i get their reply.

Don't pay guys!

Sharon
has any thing happened with that
i signed up about 2 weeks ago and received the emails today I'm not paying ether.



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  #14  
Old 01-10-2007, 01:08 PM
shaz_nic shaz_nic is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Quote:
Originally Posted by taty
has any thing happened with that
i signed up about 2 weeks ago and received the emails today I'm not paying ether.
I haven't heard anything back as of yet. No more emails and nothing in the post. Obviously if and when i do hear anything i'll let you all know :p



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  #15  
Old 01-22-2007, 05:50 PM
fri3ndly fri3ndly is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

I wish I hadnt paid, i knew it was an effing scam. My father was just worried and said he diddnt want debt collectors coming round at Christmas.

The funny thing is, I paid via paypal. I asked for my starmsga ccount to then be closed and deleted which they did. I the opened a paypal dispute which they started to panic about. In the end I settles for a partial refund. But hey, if you have paid through paypal, OPEN A DISPUTE ASAP!

I kept calling him by his name Christian Gersch which he did not respon too, I thought it was hilarious.



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  #16  
Old 01-24-2007, 05:00 PM
shaz_nic shaz_nic is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Hi Guys,

I just thought i'd drop you a line and let you know how it's all going............well it's not! So far (touch wood) i haven't heard any more from them. Whether this is due to the fact that they have handed the matter over to (suposed) debt collectors or not and it's taking time i'm not sure. I'll certainly let you know if i do hear anything though.

It is interesting what fri3ndly had to say though when they received a dispute through paypal....................hmmm! :D



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  #17  
Old 01-27-2007, 05:17 PM
Rossie Rossie is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

I'm so glad I googled these bastards before sending off any money!

Got the emails from them, vaguely remembered signing up, couldnt remember if I had agreed to pay anything though, so I thought maybe I might have had to.

I of course forgot about them altogether, until I got their letter in the post! I had a quick read through the letter, didn't notice any mistakes or anything in it (the first time, I did when I re-read it, was too much in shock the first time I read it though), so thought perhaps they were legit!

Then I looked a bit more closely at the letter, and wondered what the hell was wrong with it...... they have a Credit Card Payment slip on the end! To me, this was just the give-away they were scammers.

I tried to ring them, got some computerised female voice, then clicked on the paypal and visa links in the email I got, put in a request for my password, only to find my account number (23*4*3, does anyone else's have this format?) was not recognized or something. Sorry matey, I tried to pay, and I've kept screenshots to prove it! :p

Then I came across this site, and now I'm getting angry. I'm going to try to contact his hosting company, they might close him down for scamming or something....



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Old 01-30-2007, 03:31 PM
deborah25 deborah25 is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Internet is wonderful. My sister received the same letter as you guys, asking her to pay £109. This is completely ridiculous, £109 for sms that were supposed to be free.
Anyways, when I read the letter I notice one think, there wasn't any kind of contact name at the end, when they say yours sincerely. Furthermore the telephone number for the french office is wrong. I've lived in Paris so I know. The letter wasn't appropriate and also the way they wre going on about the IP address ect made it look unprofessional to me.

I have made some research, to find out what type of office was in Regent's street and I wasn't surprise to see that it was a postal address.

This is unbelievable!!! Did any of you manage to speak to them? Did they send you more letters? :eek:



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  #19  
Old 01-30-2007, 05:22 PM
shaz_nic shaz_nic is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

yawn :rolleyes: still waiting for this legal action! bored! lol :D



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  #20  
Old 01-30-2007, 09:42 PM
blobby123 blobby123 is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Hey guys,
Glad to read people are in the same situation! Me and my girlfriend were quite worried at first! Then i searched for scams as i wasnt convinced and sure enough we found hits. We're not going to pay this amount (94.69 + 10.00 late payment) as we have not heard of a single case where debt collectors were involved. The letter itself is terrible, does not sound very legitimate at all and no credible company tries to threaten for payment. It is written in such a way to scare payment from worried people. Its a strange company that does not charge you directly when you sign-up as anyone could put in any address they liked and they'd just lose money right?? And then they would have to keep paying for legal action which doesn't sound very cost-efficient for a company! You aren't permitted to hide charges of this nature in terms and conditions I'm sure. If anything were to happen (highly unlikely) I'm happy that consumer trading would help out or some other regulatory body.
Good luck to all though and keep posting as more should be informed!



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  #21  
Old 02-10-2007, 04:37 AM
nikki27 nikki27 is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Hello,

I can't believe that this is a scam...

I got an email saying that I owed them £99...

with the option to cancel...i did cancel...then i have been getting emails from ANNE...in LONDON saying that i didn't do it in the time frame, 14 days...some of the emails come into junk mail, some in my inbox...


the last letter, i mentioned I was a student and i didn't have a cheque book...


the ANNE...responded saying i have commited fraud, because of the date of birth i put on the form (i am over 18!!!!!!), i don't think they thought about UNIVERSITY...

I don't want a bad credit or anything, Can we all team up against this kid or whoever??????

I WOULD NEVER IN ALL MY LIFE SIGN UP FOR SOMETHING FOR £99 ESPECIALLY SMS's


HELP ME, ADVICE PLEASE



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  #22  
Old 02-10-2007, 04:41 AM
hazel4u hazel4u is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

One of my sons had a letter from these demanding payment of £99 + £10 late payment, he's only 16... i wrote to them asking all kinds of questions, i got a reply yesterday wanting his birth certificate!! and a lower payment of £35, i then did a search for Igkusoft as the first letter was from starmsg, but the reply was from iglusoft, i found this site, thanks one and all i wont be paying. Cheers one and all.



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  #23  
Old 03-01-2007, 03:00 PM
shaz_nic shaz_nic is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

These people make me more angry the more i hear about them. I mean what sort of company requests birth certificates for things like this.

It just goes to show that they really don't have a clue if they are not aware that you can be over 18 and still be a student ...derh! lol

Anyway i still haven't paid them, i'm still not going to be paying them and i still haven't heard anything back from them since the start of the new year!!!!! :)



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  #24  
Old 03-28-2007, 12:26 AM
yorkshirerose yorkshirerose is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

back in december my 16 yr old daughter recieved a letter demanding payment for 109.00 or they would send in debt collecters she too thought she was signing up for free msgs we contacted them by email saying she was under 18 and we wanted to cancel everything they also ask to see her birth cert.and said they would accept a payment of 35 to settle everything we heard nothing else until today in the post a letter from a debt recovery company demanding payment of the full amount asap has anyone else had one of these and did anyone have any luck with the ECC???




Last edited by yorkshirerose : 03-28-2007 at 12:32 AM. Reason: forgot something
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  #25  
Old 03-30-2007, 10:32 PM
Kyleb-w Kyleb-w is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Dear users, Please do not worry. The debt collection site also has blunders, i have a friends who is emensely good at finding out true details on the net, he found me this forum for a start....

Ok as for Star msg / IGLUSOFT

Their terms n conditions say:

under 18's must have signisture, if not void

also all details must be sorted in germany

As for Arvato Finance:

check this for shizzle. UK site. but where ar ethe servers ???
well guess where

GERMANY alike. look:

.......................

Domain name:
arvatofinance.co.uk

Registrant:
BFS finance Ltd.

Registrant type:
Not supplied

Registrant's address:
Gilde House
Eastpoint Business park
Dublin
Fairview
3
Ireland

Registrant's agent:
TUCOWS Inc [Tag = TUCOWS-CA]
URL: http://www.opensrs.org

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 05-Sep-2005
Renewal date: 05-Sep-2007
Last updated: 22-Aug-2006

Registration status:
Registered until renewal date.

Name servers:
ns09.bnic.bertelsmann.de <<<<<<<<<<<< GERMANY<<<< :mad:
ns17.bnic.bertelsmann.de <<<<<<<<<<<< GERMANY<<<< :mad:


WHOIS lookup made at 18:46:25 30-Mar-2007

--
This WHOIS information is provided for free by Nominet UK the central registry
for .uk domain names. This information and the .uk WHOIS are:

Copyright Nominet UK 1996 - 2007.

You may not access the .uk WHOIS or use any data from it except as permitted
by the terms of use available in full at http://www.nominet.org.uk/whois, which
includes restrictions on: (A) use of the data for advertising, or its
repackaging, recompilation, redistribution or reuse (B) obscuring, removing
or hiding any or all of this notice and (C) exceeding query rate or volume
limits. The data is provided on an 'as-is' basis and may lag behind the
register. Access may be withdrawn or restricted at any time.


......................


dont worry. all is well. their 100% scam artists.



INFACT MY M8 INFORMS ME

EVERYSITE, ALL THE UK SITES LINKED TO THEM EVERYTHIGN EVEN FINANCE COLLECTERS

ARE ALL REGISTERED TO GERMANY
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

contact me @ the_new_kyle@hotmail.com for more info



ONTOP OF ALL THIS

guy behind it called

admin-c-firstname: Christian
admin-c-lastname: Gersch

Thnx


any more info contact me,we need rid of idiots like this.....




Last edited by Kyleb-w : 03-30-2007 at 10:41 PM. Reason: MORE UPDATES
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  #26  
Old 03-30-2007, 10:45 PM
Kyleb-w Kyleb-w is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

also, sites they link with. all german

like: http://www.arvato-systems.de/

i think we can all asure we are safe from idiots if we dnt pay, if you have ur to late u been ripped off. thnx kyle b-w



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  #27  
Old 04-03-2007, 05:48 PM
luke262 luke262 is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

ok, i joined this starmsg in july 2006, i vaguely recall doing so, i completly forgot about it and then in a letter i recieved in october 2006 they claimed i owed them £104.69. i figured it was a scam, though i was worried at the time, i did think that a few things on the letter looked a bit shoddy, also they had only given me about a week to pay, surely legit companies would give you 30 days or something.
sadly i gave my real details, however i am under 18 and in my d.o.b. i claimed i was over 18, if this were a legal contract wouldnt that render it void?

anywho having pretty much forgotten about it all, i got a letter from the debt collector company , arvato finance, on the 26th of march, they gave me till tomorrow (4th April) to pay this £104.69.

what should i do? i figure i shouldnt pay as everyone seems to agree its a con, but i still am worried.

thanks for the help.



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  #28  
Old 04-03-2007, 09:03 PM
shaz_nic shaz_nic is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Hi guys,

I have just received a response from the ECC regarding these lot, below is a copy of what they had to say:

Dear Sharon Nicholson



May I first apologise for the delay in contacting you with regard to your enquiry about starmsg.com.



I had a chance to look at your notes on what has happened and would confirm that it is a scam. The likelihood of the trader seeking to pursue the matter in the courts is in my view small. I hold this view as any court that the trader went to seeking enforcement of their claim is likely to want to see evidence of a contract showing that you agreed to pay that amount to them.



Should you get any letters and I would suggest only dealing by letter with the company you should make clear that you do not believe a contract exists were by you agreed to pay this money for the service but signed a contract which it was claimed was free.



As the company you are complaining of is based in Germany you may want to raise the matter with them direct to see if they have any further advice for you. I have placed their contact details below.



Germany

Will accept queries directly from consumers not based in Germany about German based traders.

Europaisches Verbraucherzentrum Kiel
Willestrasse 4-6
D-24103
Kiel

Tel: +49 431 971 9350
Fax: +49 431 971 9360

E-mail: info.kiel@evz.de
Website: www.evz.de

or

Euro-Info-Verbraucher e. V.
Rehfusplatz 11
D-77694 Kehl
Germany

Tel: + 49 7851 991 48 0
Fax: + 49 7851 991 48 11

E-mail: info@euroinfo-kehl.com
Website: www.euroinfo-kehl.com

I hope this helps all. Just to confirm that i still haven't recieved any letters from any debt collectors either.

S



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  #29  
Old 04-04-2007, 02:05 PM
monstereyebrows monstereyebrows is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Hi I to have been caught up in this and have received a letter from arvato debt collection.

I have contacted consumer direct (Act on behalf of trading standards in first instance )and there advice is write to debt collectors telling them that you are in dispute with starmsg to put them on hold then to dispute it with starmsg. (whats the point with scammers).

Spoke to office of fair trading told they only log complaints against unfair traders.

Options open

1. Wait and see if debt collectors call and run risk of increased costs?

2. Wait until the matter goes to court and run risk of outcome?

3. Or just pay up for European wide scam and put it down to experience ( I know that is what they want). If I had the money I would have no hesitation in fighting it.

You opinion would be welcome.



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  #30  
Old 04-04-2007, 04:46 PM
monstereyebrows monstereyebrows is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Hi Just to let you know progress.

I have spoken to office of fair trading and they confirm that Arvato finance ltd at the Hull address DOES NOT HAVE a consumer credit license.

They must have this to operate debt collection.

In view of this and the above post it looks like the collection service is a scam.

I will keep you informed of further progress.

Peter



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  #31  
Old 04-27-2007, 03:16 AM
Mr Marcus Mr Marcus is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Hi I too have been caught out by these crooks and have received a letter from arvato debt collection. I have to admit it worried me and I couldn't think that I had been so, stupid to have signed up for text messages for this ridiculous amount of money. I thought the texts were free! I read it and that’s what it said, I’m positive! I only sent 2 texts to try the service and the texts weren’t delivered until the next day, so the service sucked. I didn’t hear a thing for ages. Then the demand came. They demanded £104.69 for a one off set-up fee.

I WILL NOT BE PAYING THIS MONEY ON PRINCIPAL and do not believe I signed to say I would pay it. Why would I?

What I intend to do is make an appointment to go and see the bank manager at my local Barclays Bank. Barclays hold the account that arvato want me to pay into. I’m not actually a customer of Barclays. I will be armed with a print out of all the complaints in this forum about lgluSoft Medien GmbH, plus a copy of the demand from arvato finance for payment. I intend to make Barclays aware of the scam. I will demand Barclays immediately freeze their assets and investigate these fraudsters. I will imply that if they do not do this, then they will be legally implicated from this point onwards.

I would urge others to do the same to put pressure on Barclays.

I’m also in two minds as to contacting the media as I have limited contacts on a local level. If I could get something printed in a local paper, bigger tabloids may pick up to the story and take up our cause. Banks and tabloids have the money to stop these guys if we don’t, so that’s the way to go.



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  #32  
Old 05-04-2007, 11:26 AM
stephgatt stephgatt is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

hi i've also been conned by this company i've not paid up and don't intend too either my husband signed us both up at the same time to a "totally free txt service" and as far as we can work out they've since changed the web page! we read through all their terms and conditions are there was nothing about paying £99 but now it's all over the site!!
i'm convinced it's a complete con because my husband received 1 letter months ago i also received the same letter, but since then i've been the one being hounded for money and my hubby hasn't heard a word off them??
has anyone acctually found away of stopping them from hassling you??



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  #33  
Old 05-04-2007, 02:08 PM
monstereyebrows monstereyebrows is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

I have a legal executive friend who deals in these kind of matters.

He tells me that the letter that tells you they may instruct local collection agents can not take until a judgement has been made against you. So at this stage you have no fear of anyone knocking at your door.

However the next stage if they decide to take it is to instruct solicitors. They can do this but at this stage there are no additional charges they can make against other than 8% interest since the debt was outstanding.

So the question is are they likely to take the matter further than letters? If they do then there costs get more and would have to recover them from you.

I asked my friend If it went to court what would the cost be if lost he extra £100 plus possible court fees etc . Remember the law says all costs have to be reasonable. But overall in the worse case situation the total cost of paying of all costs and the debt would approx £450. Be aware that if they take action in court you can have it heard in your local court.

In view of the evidence of this being a scam throughout the eu just search the net you have to decide what action you take. For me I would have my day in court.

Hope this helps abit



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  #34  
Old 05-08-2007, 10:50 PM
FFS FFS is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

pah buga grrr ok... excuse the grammar etc but Ive spent so much time on this rubbish im running low on enthusiasm to write a good thread...;. but stay tuned coz Igo some fairly good info....

Ok like you all I accidentally signed up to this site after following a link from a free Internet texting site (i think it was something like fonetastic).

Got an e-mail shortly after 10 days (after the time given to cancel the account) Got further (cheaply printed) letters from IgluSoft followed by a (again cheaply printed) letter from Arvato Finance.


At this stage my first piece of advice (that I myself failed to use) is not to reply to letters marked Arvato Finance (on the front). Don't confirm that you live there! If you have the hindsight put the unopened letter from Arvato in the mail box after crossing out your address and writing on the front "not at this address, return to sender"

I have contacted FTC Complaints and Trading Standards and have the following information:
Trading Standards can not take any action because the company is not in the UK.
Write to Arvato saying that you dispute the debt. Any following correspondence with IgluSoft needs a copy sent to Arvato. All this should be done by recorded mail.
There is in theory at least a form of contract formed in the sign up page.
If any of the terms and conditions are not met then the contract will not be valid.

Right I have a number of points in the terms and conditions that I don't believe have been met and many that can't be proven.

My IP address constantly changes so can not be pinned down. Equally it is very unlikely that your service provider will give your IP address to anyone but your self.

Your age must be entered correctly.

now hold ya breath coz if I'm not mistaken this is a big one - Under section 1.2 of your terms and conditions it states “Services must be paid in advance” In this case as they are claiming that services have not been paid, a contract has not been created. can some one back me up on this? We are being asked to pay for a service but clearly it says that services must be paid in advance.... that is the contract you signed! one that says you will pay before you use.

ok the next piece of info I have is that there are LOADS of sites with adverts by IgluSoft claiming eusms.net is free software for microsoft windows to send text messages via the internet... put eusms.net into your web browser and da da we will be taken back to that starmsg.com page! so here we have some misleading advertising. You can check out a couple of these adverts at www.programurl.com/eusms-net.htm
www.softpricks.net/software/eusms-net-1659.htm

Anyone know anyone that's been taken to court by these clowns?
whats the longest people have gone without hearing back from Arvato?
Well im sure as hell not paying up if they want to court me lets go :cool:

I'm going to be writing to BBC Watchdog this week www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/ These guys are good and is likely to put some weight behind us if enough of us write in.




Last edited by FFS : 05-08-2007 at 10:52 PM.
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  #35  
Old 05-22-2007, 04:19 PM
frusciantelovechild frusciantelovechild is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

HI, yes i have also been caught out by these arseholes, last year around july "apparently" i had signed up for this sms messanging service, obviously thinking that it would be free, what information was needed when signing up??? if anyone can remember, as i could say that it wasnt me who signed up and someone else had used my address, i dont live at that address anymore, but unfortunately my mother does and we have recieved many letters, asking for payments , telling me they are taking me to court etc, now i have recieved an offical letter from smiths registered law company telling me that they will be taking me to court if i do not pay the £104 with an additional solicitors cost or £50 and a court fee of at least £30.

i doubt they would be able to track me down with my I.P address, as is it a company computer in the work that i am in, which i will also be finishing working with at the end of the month.

any advice would be much appreciated!
cheers



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  #36  
Old 06-04-2007, 11:55 PM
luke262 luke262 is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

i have been troubled by this scam too, however i spoke to a legal expert and he claimed that contracts over the internet for those who are under 18, cannot be binding unless it is for something called "necessaries", (such as food, shelter, etc.) therefore a contract for a text messaging service over the internet is not binding if you were under 18 when the contract was 'complete'.
hope this helps.

also i was under 18 when i signed up for this and have been hounded with 3 or 4 letters from the debt collectors, however i do not know whether to just ignore these letters and forget about it completely or try and contact the companies involved telling them that they have no right to demand this money.
any help would be appreciated



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  #37  
Old 07-06-2007, 06:25 PM
FFS FFS is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

Across the many Blogs and sites discussing this scam we are yet to see anyone actually been taken to court.

If anyone actually has court problems with this scam I advice that they post on this site. I would be happy to give any support I can and would ask that anyone else who has posted this site to do the same.



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  #38  
Old 07-09-2007, 04:17 AM
FFS FFS is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

You posted that blog some time ago... how did it end up, did they lay off you or did you end up paying up?



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  #39  
Old 07-09-2007, 04:19 AM
FFS FFS is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

hey can you please tell me how you ended up in regard to starmsg.com IgluSoft median? did you pay them or did they stop harassing you?



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  #40  
Old 07-09-2007, 03:00 PM
anonymous_fred anonymous_fred is offline
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Re: starmsg.com IgluSoft median

These are scamming bastards.. so i took it upon myself to get them back. I have now had over 6,000 free accounts from them.

Christian, if you are reading this, **** YOU!



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