22. 12.2004, Bristol
Two Bristol-based companies and two company directors have pleaded guilty to
83 offences in relation to prize draw promotions linked to premium rate phone
lines following a massive Trading Standards investigation.
Hundreds of thousands of consumers received unsolicited letters from Cutting
Edge Telecom Ltd telling them 'You're a WINNER', stating that they had been
entered into a competition and that 'You have definitely won one of the following:
TVR Cerbera, Sony DVD Player, Toshiba 36" Widescreen TV, Intel Pentium 300
Mhz Personal Computer, Fuji Finepix Zoom Digital Camera, Portable 14"
Television'. They were encouraged to call a number to find out which prize they
had won and how to claim it. The number was a premium rate number and calls
cost £9 each.
(...)
At court today the defendants pleaded guilty to offences under the Trade Descriptions Act:
- for making false statements that consumers who received the computer leaflet were winners,
- in that the consumer was not a winner in any recognised sense of the word,
and for making false statements that consumers had been entered into a competition
- in that there was no competition, merely the selection of names to whom the mailshot would be sent.
They also pleaded guilty to misleading pricing offences under the Consumer Protection Act:
- for indicating that a computer was one of the prizes and therefore implying that it would be provided
free of charge, when in fact the consumer was required to pay in order to obtain the computer, and
- for indicating either that the "prize" was "definitely worth more than the cost of the call"
or in the case of the scratchcard "worth at least 40 times the cost of the call".
District Judge David Parsons referred the case to the Crown Court for
sentencing, on a date to be confirmed. He told the defendants: "This was a cynical,
manipulative and misleading scheme to generate the maximum reward to yourself to the
detriment of consumers."
http://www.icstis.org.uk/icstis2002/pdf/Premium Rate Prize Draw Scam.pdf
( Kompletten Link in die Adresszeile kopieren )
gal.
Two Bristol-based companies and two company directors have pleaded guilty to
83 offences in relation to prize draw promotions linked to premium rate phone
lines following a massive Trading Standards investigation.
Hundreds of thousands of consumers received unsolicited letters from Cutting
Edge Telecom Ltd telling them 'You're a WINNER', stating that they had been
entered into a competition and that 'You have definitely won one of the following:
TVR Cerbera, Sony DVD Player, Toshiba 36" Widescreen TV, Intel Pentium 300
Mhz Personal Computer, Fuji Finepix Zoom Digital Camera, Portable 14"
Television'. They were encouraged to call a number to find out which prize they
had won and how to claim it. The number was a premium rate number and calls
cost £9 each.
(...)
At court today the defendants pleaded guilty to offences under the Trade Descriptions Act:
- for making false statements that consumers who received the computer leaflet were winners,
- in that the consumer was not a winner in any recognised sense of the word,
and for making false statements that consumers had been entered into a competition
- in that there was no competition, merely the selection of names to whom the mailshot would be sent.
They also pleaded guilty to misleading pricing offences under the Consumer Protection Act:
- for indicating that a computer was one of the prizes and therefore implying that it would be provided
free of charge, when in fact the consumer was required to pay in order to obtain the computer, and
- for indicating either that the "prize" was "definitely worth more than the cost of the call"
or in the case of the scratchcard "worth at least 40 times the cost of the call".
District Judge David Parsons referred the case to the Crown Court for
sentencing, on a date to be confirmed. He told the defendants: "This was a cynical,
manipulative and misleading scheme to generate the maximum reward to yourself to the
detriment of consumers."
http://www.icstis.org.uk/icstis2002/pdf/Premium Rate Prize Draw Scam.pdf
( Kompletten Link in die Adresszeile kopieren )
gal.