The Wise Monkeys

The 4 Wise Monkeys have been tracking now for way to long is the DC Marketing ‘Ring Once’ and hang up leaving a ‘Missed Call’ notification on your mobile phone hoping that you will be ‘socially engineered’ into returning the call. A full list of the numbers that you may receive these calls from is listed over on the number index page (click here for link). If you return the call which is to a local number you are billed accordingly by your mobile telephony provider at the standard rate. The recorded message you hear if you do call this number will prompt you to dial a 190x-xxx-xxx telephone number that you are then billed at premium rates that are disclosed in the recorded message that you have just heard.

The latest that the 4 Wise Monkeys are now tracking is originating from the 1997-6666 telephone number and this is a WAP pushed message to your mobile phone that is delivered as a message type of ‘Content Download’ that then displays an internet URL website address in the form of “http://app.contentlink.com.au/mmp/app/subscription/wap.php?key=wapXXXXXXXXXX&rand=XXXX” and the provider are attempting to ‘socially engineer’ you into selecting OK and downloading the content from the website where your mobile phone will be charged for the premium content download. This message includes no details at all on how to stop receiving the messages, who it is from or the actual cost of the message. Optus charge $3.636 per message for delivery of this ‘content download’ message and any other charges for downloading the content are unknown, other carriers may have a slightly varied tariff depending on what plan you are on with your carrier, pre-paid or a contract plan. You will need to speak with your mobile carrier customer support to find out the exact details of this message, charges and who the originating content provider is. Optus have this information listed in their database system as “mmcontent144 promotion 3415 provided by Sol Mobile and to contact 1300-767-306″. We are unsure as to if this content is being directly supplied from Mobile Messenger (Sol Mobile) or the number is leased by a secondary company and Mobile Messenger (Sol Mobile) are just the content aggregator.

Mobile Telephony Contact Numbers

Telstra 125-111
Optus 1300-300-937
Vodaphone 1300-650-410
Virgin 1300-555-100

If you have received what you believe to be unwanted messages or calls to your mobile please go to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) web site and fill out an official complaint (click here for direct link).

To report SMS Spam you have received please go to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) web site and you can read the Spam - Introduction and procedures for reporting complaints and fill out an official complaint here.

If you are unsure of who owns the SMS ‘Short Code’ that is involved with the SMS messaging problem you are having you can utilise the ACMA Phones website where on the left menu is an option ‘numbering’ and at the base of the submenu is a link to “Search Resigister of Allocated Numbers” to display the ‘content provider’ of the SMS Number shortcode you are having problems with and are then be able to contact the provider directly. (A Direct URL link to this search is unavailable)

Note: The 1997-6666 Shortcode on the ACMA Register is listed as registered to Amcom Pty Ltd, this is no longer the case as Amcom no longer provide SMS services as the Ezesms business they previously operated is now operated by Sol Mobile who have mergerged with a company called Mobile Messenger and the database is yet to be updated.

If you continue to not be able to resolve a Premium SMS issue with your mobile carrier contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).

Some of the terms used in this document

“Social engineering is the practice of obtaining confidential information by manipulation of legitimate users. A social engineer will commonly use the telephone or Internet to trick people into revealing sensitive information or getting them to do something that is against typical policies. By this method, social engineers exploit the natural tendency of a person to trust his or her word, rather than exploiting computer security holes. It is generally agreed upon that “users are the weak link” in security and this principle is what makes social engineering possible.”

“Mobile phone spam is directed at the text messaging service of a mobile phone. This can be especially irritating to consumers not only for the inconvenience but also because of the fee that they are charged per text message.”

“Reverse SMS billing means that the owner of the recipient phone rather than the message sender is charged for the cost of the SMS message received. It is also called MT (Mobile Terminated) Billing. Reverse billed SMS messages are only sent if specifically requested by the phone owner. A daily horoscope alert is an example of a service where owner receives regular reverse-billed messages.”

“Short codes, also known short numbers or Common Short Codes (CSC) are special telephone numbers, significantly shorter than full telephone numbers, which can be used to address SMS and MMS messages from mobile telephones. They are designed to be shorter to read out and easier to remember than a normal length telephone number. While similar to telephone numbers, they are, at the technological level, unique to each operator, although providers generally have agreements to avoid overlaps.”