Premium rate spam scam hitting mobiles

The oft-promised but rarely seen threat of mobile spam seems to finally have found its niche with the advent of the 'missed call' scam.

The missed call scam, or "missed call marketing" as it's sometimes called, uses phone owners' curiosity to milk them for a few quid. The companies operating the scam send out a spam text to phones that appears to the user as a missed call.

If you're the curious sort, you might well ring back to find out who wanted to talk to you. Instead of a mate trying to arrange what time to meet at the pub, you'll find yourself on the wrong end of a premium rate number costing £1.50 a minute, promising you've won a prize. No prize will ever turn up – but a hefty mobile phone bill will.

Regulator ICSTIS (the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Telephone Information Services) has found two companies practising the scheme, in breach of regulations – and the law - and shut them down.

While there are two fewer scammers out there, a new temptation could well lure more out of the woodwork. With ICSTIS currently considering the introduction of higher priced premium rate lines, costing between £2.50 and £5 a minute, the spammers aren't likely to turn down the chance of making a fast buck.