Fuze Forge Games - THREE’s latest Nightmare?

[20yearsCustomer]

Following numerous complaints, it now seemed like Three have been hacked by allowing a third party (Fuze Forge Game) to scam innocent customers—some have noticed unauthorised charges on their bills, while others remain unaware and continue to be scammed.

In my opinion, this could be an inside job that requires thorough investigation by Three. It is highly suspicious that after lodging a complaint, Three confidently directs customers to contact the scammer for a refund.

As a victim of this odd phenomenon, I questioned Three about how I could possibly subscribe to an app using a router—a device without a screen or touchpad, designed solely to send and receive signals, not function as a mobile device.

Three has failed its customers. It’s time to admit that your system has been compromised and compensate the victims.

[LB1]

I have also just logged a complaint with Three regarding this. It seems that ThreePay does not require authentication of the bill payer, only access to the data connection. On a shared broadband router, this means anyone connected can trigger a charge without proving they are authorised to do so.

[Paddiewack]

1) You can ask customer service to set your Three pay spend limit to zero!

2) Surely it’s the responsibility of the router owner to ensure people don’t spend without permission. 

Simples!

[psconsumers]

It used to be the case that the spend limit was ineffective against these third party charges. Indeed Three had the distinction of being the only network with no mechanism for preventing them.

Just checked again:

📵 1. Use a Spend Cap to limit extra charges

Three lets you set a Spend Cap on your Pay Monthly account. This caps how much you can spend outside your plan allowance (calls, texts, roaming, add-ons) — which can help reduce unexpected charges. You can set this via the Three app or My3 online.

✔️ What it does block:

• Out-of-allowance calls/texts
• Premium rate numbers (e.g., 084/087)
• International calls/texts
• Roaming outside included zones
  ❗ But: it does not reliably block all third-party billing (like purchases via carrier billing/Three Pay).

Can you confirm that this has changed? If so that is excellent, but long overdue, news!

[Paddiewack]

My apologies I’ve literally just spoken to customer service (in Derby no less) and whilst I was under the impression that your spend cap would also control Three pay it seems I was giving erroneous information. You have to question the payments with the company in question. It does seem to say the least unregulated so your jubilation has to be short lived. 

[Mas]

Just happened to me right out now and Three are asking to complain directly to the company to contact the company directly. It's very much upsetting and I will living Three alfer 20 years as a loyal customer..

[psconsumers]

I know it seems crazy, but Three are correct to direct you to the service provider initially. Three are acting as a payment processor, a bit like Paypal. If you have a problem with a charge to your account your first port of call should the organisation that made the charge. They need to explain why the charge was made, and how you gave them authority to make the charge. 

The problem with Phone-payments of this sort is that the networks, like Three, are not bound by the same regulations as all other paymeny processors. They should be.

There is advice in one of my previous posts. Try to get a refund from the 'service provider' first, Then if that fails report them to Ofcom and take action through the Small Claims procedure. Good Luck! 

[Paddiewack]

No! It doesn’t seem crazy at all. 

[Paddiewack]

Just as a comment on your post rather than your situation which I’ve commented on previously;loyalty counts for nothing in business. You pay your money and you get to access the network. That’s about it!

[psconsumers]

It appears that Three are up to their old tricks again. Between 2015 and 2021 Three were implicated in a large volume of fraudulent third party premium text transactions. Although there were scam transactions on all networks, Three did the least to put an end to them and they were the last to clean up their act. The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) eventually acted and put a stop to the scams by insisting that all networks adopt measures to protect consumers. Unfortunately the PSA was disbanded last year and responsibility for policing was passed to Ofcom. I suspect that we are going to see more of these scams unless and until Ofcom get a grip. If you've been scammed, report it to Ofcom: https://ofcomlive.my.salesforce-sites.com/formentry/PRSComplaints

You should also send a letter before action to the company with a view to recovering your money through the Small Claims procedure. https://psconsumers.org.uk/template-letter-before-action/ 

I'm disappointed to see a recurrence of these scams.