Complaint Review: M QUBE - Watertown Massachusetts

The Mobile Messenger representative said in a "rebuttal" here:

"As a company Mobile Messenger and its clients adhere to the regulations set by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and all carriers across the US. The business model operated within the US for premium cell phone services is a highly regulated industry. Consumers must double opt-in, meaning they must verify they are the owner of the device and are accepting the chargers"

I just received a text from 688-51, with the following content:

"You Have: 1 unread message from your secret crush.Reply >>YES<< to get ur crush's name now! 4help 8002357105 $9.99/mo Msg&Data rates may apply.txt stop 2stop"

The recipient never "opted in" (let alone "double opted in") to this cell spam.  I contacted AT&T and they said there was already a $9.95 charge from these crooks on my bill.  The representative here is simply not being truthful.

I recommend the following steps:

(1) Contact your cell provider.  If you don't have any add-on subscription services (most people don't), then some providers will let you block all such services in one shot.  This keeps crooks like this company from trying to sneak back onto your cell bill.

(2) File a complaint with your state Attorney General about this practice.  Document the charge on your bill and the fact that you never opted in to the "service."

(3) File a complaint with the FCC, here:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
... select "Wireless Telephone" complaint type, select "Telemarketing" (including unsolicited commercial advertisements on a wireless phone), and then proceed to the online form.

My complaint I sent to the FTC. Seems this is an ongoing scam company for the past few years and over thousands of complaints nationwide noone is doing anything to stop them. All the companies are tied together by a larger group - Love Soulmate/MMTXTALRT/M QUBE/ALLTXT4.COM/MOBILE MESSANGER/smshelpdesk.com It took me only 5 minutes to gather this information, so have thousands others. Imagine what us thousands who keep getting ripped off by these scam artists can do with your resources. There happens to be a class action lawsuit against them at the moment but that seems to resolve nothing except to make lawyers rich and the owners of these scam business to close up shop after stealing millions and spent no jail time and pay no fees.

We at Mobile Messenger would like to assist you with your concern or complaint. If you need assistance in regards to being unsubscribed or other related issues, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please call 1-800-416-6129 Monday to Friday 0600 1800 US Pacific Time or email [email protected] Sandra Mobile Messenger

Just a couple of things. First, I never ever signed up for this service. Text messages to my phone just started coming in saying my subscription had been renewed. Problem was, I wasn't subscribed to it. I never heard of this company before all this happened. Furthermore, every time I opened one of these "subscription renewal" notices, it cost me $9.99. Second, I followed the unsubscribe procedures exactly, and the problem continued as in my original report. Getting out of this isn't the simple little process this employee claims. The best way to address this scam is refuse to pay it. Pay the rest of your bill and subtract this out after, of course, notifying your carrier of your intentions. They can't turn your phone off because this is billing for another company. Check your bill every month. This scam counts on people not questioning or paying attention to their itemized bill and just paying it. It must generate millions of dollars annually at the expense of unsuspecting customers. This is a scam, and as can be seen from the number of reports here, there are too many people like me who NEVER ordered ANYTHING from M Qube. Companies like this get their information about YOU directly from the cell phone carriers' databases. According to Verizon, they have free direct access to Verizon's customer database. This is how they get your information.

Mobile Messenger is an industry leading global Business to Business service provider of mobile entertainment products and Billing. Our primary services are to provide delivery and billing of mobile phone content for companies that wish to offer mobile entertainment products to consumers. As part of our service offering we have also taken on the process of Customer Care for our clients. This provides the consumer with a reliable contact to manage any issues they may have. Our customer care service has been recognized as the best in the Industry. As a company we pride ourselves on customer service. Mobile Messenger now has live Customer Call Centre locally in the US and Australia. These centres have been positioned within their respective consumer regions with a view to address consumer contact quality of service, speed of service, and efficient execution of service. As a company Mobile Messenger and its clients adhere to the regulations set by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and all carriers across the US. The business model operated within the US for premium cell phone services is a highly regulated industry. Consumers must double opt-in, meaning they must verify they are the owner of the device and are accepting the chargers. If a consumer would like to be unsubscribed from anyone of our clients campaigns, it is very simple, they can send in the word STOP to the shortcode eg 33999, send an email to our contact centre [email protected] or call our USA Contact Centre on 1 800 416 6129. These instructions are also provided on all advertising material, the original welcome message and the billing reminder messages they receive each month.

I've got absolutely the same problem as Dirk Cartersville, Georgia, U.S.A. described in his report. In my case was the same toll free number 1-800-235-7105 where I tried to cancel SMS messages. Verizon charged me total $27.96 for 4 those message. The only difference is that website was celltoneclub.com. They showed in the Verizon's statement that I've got downloaded music for my cell phone. I actually got nothing and never ordered this kind of service. Will definitely dispute this amount with Verizon. People, be careful, that's fishy. Mike, Upstate NY

I received my Verizon bill today, and there are no more "mystery" charges from M Qube or anyone else on it. It's been a hassle, but I finally got the charges stopped and I didn't have to pay them to begin with. If you've been a victim of this same type of thing, be persistent! It's also very important that you post a report here to let everyone know the extent of this scam.

I just had a very lengthy conversation with Verizon Customer Service. I gave them all of the information that I had gained and they gave me some helpful information as well. One thing the customer service rep told me was that these companies have a way of accessing the databases of wireless phone companies and that is how things like this can get started. Verizon actually told one of these type companies, Blinko, to stop sending text messages to its customers unless the customer authorized it. Verizon had received thousands of complaints which were documented in their computer system. At the end, Verizon did issue me a courtesy credit of the total billed from April and May 2006, plus what is on my current bill, which was $29.97. They also credited my bill for the $5.00 late fee. I do not know about other cell phone carriers, but Verizon can issue a credit for these charges. Moral of the story: anyone, regardless of who your cell phone company is, needs to immediately call and dispute these "mystery" charges that are not authorized. Unless a lot of customers call and/or e-mail to complain about it, the carrier will likely do nothing about it. Your carrier has a much louder voice with these companies than you as an individual do. I will see if the charges continue or stop.

I just had a very lengthy conversation with Verizon Customer Service. I gave them all of the information that I had gained and they gave me some helpful information as well. One thing the customer service rep told me was that these companies have a way of accessing the databases of wireless phone companies and that is how things like this can get started. Verizon actually told one of these type companies, Blinko, to stop sending text messages to its customers unless the customer authorized it. Verizon had received thousands of complaints which were documented in their computer system. At the end, Verizon did issue me a courtesy credit of the total billed from April and May 2006, plus what is on my current bill, which was $29.97. They also credited my bill for the $5.00 late fee. I do not know about other cell phone carriers, but Verizon can issue a credit for these charges. Moral of the story: anyone, regardless of who your cell phone company is, needs to immediately call and dispute these "mystery" charges that are not authorized. Unless a lot of customers call and/or e-mail to complain about it, the carrier will likely do nothing about it. Your carrier has a much louder voice with these companies than you as an individual do. I will see if the charges continue or stop.

I just had a very lengthy conversation with Verizon Customer Service. I gave them all of the information that I had gained and they gave me some helpful information as well. One thing the customer service rep told me was that these companies have a way of accessing the databases of wireless phone companies and that is how things like this can get started. Verizon actually told one of these type companies, Blinko, to stop sending text messages to its customers unless the customer authorized it. Verizon had received thousands of complaints which were documented in their computer system. At the end, Verizon did issue me a courtesy credit of the total billed from April and May 2006, plus what is on my current bill, which was $29.97. They also credited my bill for the $5.00 late fee. I do not know about other cell phone carriers, but Verizon can issue a credit for these charges. Moral of the story: anyone, regardless of who your cell phone company is, needs to immediately call and dispute these "mystery" charges that are not authorized. Unless a lot of customers call and/or e-mail to complain about it, the carrier will likely do nothing about it. Your carrier has a much louder voice with these companies than you as an individual do. I will see if the charges continue or stop.

I just had a very lengthy conversation with Verizon Customer Service. I gave them all of the information that I had gained and they gave me some helpful information as well. One thing the customer service rep told me was that these companies have a way of accessing the databases of wireless phone companies and that is how things like this can get started. Verizon actually told one of these type companies, Blinko, to stop sending text messages to its customers unless the customer authorized it. Verizon had received thousands of complaints which were documented in their computer system. At the end, Verizon did issue me a courtesy credit of the total billed from April and May 2006, plus what is on my current bill, which was $29.97. They also credited my bill for the $5.00 late fee. I do not know about other cell phone carriers, but Verizon can issue a credit for these charges. Moral of the story: anyone, regardless of who your cell phone company is, needs to immediately call and dispute these "mystery" charges that are not authorized. Unless a lot of customers call and/or e-mail to complain about it, the carrier will likely do nothing about it. Your carrier has a much louder voice with these companies than you as an individual do. I will see if the charges continue or stop.

I received a response by e-mail from M Qube stating that the charges on my cell phone were billed on behalf of Mobile Messenger. M Qube also stated they submitted a request on my behalf to Mobile Messenger to remove my wireless number from all services. They gave a number to cancel the "services" myself - 1-800-235-7105. This is when I discovered that Mobile Messenger, Premier SMS Messaging, and ALLTXT4.COM are all one in the same company. I had already used this number to supposedly cancel my "subscription" to whatever after the very first message I received (see my entry on this site under ALLTXT4.COM for complete details). This number has no live people and I again used their automated system to have my number removed from their records. I discovered something today about this number. If you call it more than twice, you will get a "fast busy" signal. Acting on my suspicion that it was blocking further attempts to contact them, I blocked my number using *67, and got through. I had dialed repeatedly before, but it was not until I used *67 that I got through. To try to insure that I do not get billed any more for this "service", I sent a text message of "Stop" to 27000 per M Qube. I have a confirmation that states" U have now been unsubscribed from alltxt4 polytones club and will receive no further messages." It then gives the same 800 number for support. Notice it does not say anything about stopping the charges - just the messages! After I determine if I am successful or not, I will post again to let everyone know.