Bafona Ltd (Case reference: 28791)
Case Number | 28791 |
Published date | 21 August 2013 |
Year | 2013 |
Adjudicated Party | Bafona Ltd |
Procedure Type | Emergency Procedure (Phone-Paid Services Authority) |
Code Compliance Panel
Tribunal Decision
18
Tribunal Sitting Number 130 / Case 2
Case Reference: 28791
Level 2 provider
Bafona Ltd
Type of Service
Competition - non-scratchcard
Level 1 provider
txtNation Limited and OpenMarket Limited
Network operator
All Mobile Network operators
THIS CASE WAS BROUGHT AGAINST THE LEVEL 2 PROVIDER UNDER PARAGRAPH 4.4
OF THE CODE
BACKGROUND
The Level 2 provider, Bafona Ltd operated an online subscription competition quiz service, “Zovut”
(the “Service”). The Service was operated using Payforit (“PFI”) at a cost of £4.50 per week and
was promoted via affiliate marketing. The Level 1 providers for the Service were txtNation Limited
and OpenMarket Limited.
The Service offered consumers the opportunity to participate in weekly quiz competitions.
Consumers who answered the most questions correctly in the shortest time period won a prize
(prizes were awarded on a monthly basis, such as, an X-Box 360).
The Service operated from 12 June 2013 to 2 July 2013 (when it was suspended as a result of the
use of the Emergency procedure).
PhonepayPlus received no complaints from consumers. Concerns regarding the promotion of the
Service were uncovered as a result of in-house monitoring conducted by the PhonepayPlus
Research and Market Intelligence Team (the “RMIT”). The monitoring revealed that affiliate
marketing, which generated consumer traffic to the Service, appeared to utilise a form of malware
that stopped users’ internet browsers working, and resulted in users being unable to access a large
number of popular websites, including Facebook, Ebay and Google. Users were told that they were
required to sign up to the Service (and/or other premium rate services) in order to unblock their
browsers.
Monitoring
On 24 June 2013, the RMIT visited the website “wifihackpassword.com” (Appendix A), which
offered users software that purported to enable them to hack into locked Wi-Fi networks. The RMIT
clicked on a button marked “Download Now!” which resulted in a file being downloaded. The RMIT
opened the file, instantly a dialogue box appeared and offered a seemingly essential update which
the RMIT declined (Appendix B). After the RMIT clicked “No”, a further dialogue box appeared
which stated (Appendix C):
“Error! Too old version Update please!”
The only option to click was “OK”. After the RMIT clicked on “OK”, the dialogue box closed. The
RMIT then closed all open windows and attempted to open the Google Chrome browser. The RMIT
found the homepage blocked (Appendix D). The webpage displayed the following message:
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