Episode 12 Rip Off Britain

We asked you to tell us who has left you feeling ripped off,

and you contacted us in your thousands by post, e-mail,

even stopping us on the streets, and the message could not be clearer.

They're in it for what they can get,

they're not in it to provide a service.

I didn't sleep. It upset me so much that I didn't sleep.

You've told us, with money tighter than ever,

you need to be sure that every pound you spend is worth it.

How do I get my money back? Cos I just think I'm entitled to it.

So whether it's a deliberate rip off, a simple mistake, or a catch in the small print,

we'll find out why you're out of pocket and what you can do about it.

Keep asking the questions, you know, go to the top if you have to.

We do get results, I mean, that's the interesting thing.

Your stories, your money - this is Rip-Off Britain

Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain.

Now, today we'll be looking at situations where,

let's not beat about the bush, you've been told something that was either misleading

or it was simply untrue.

Because often with the stories that you ask us to investigate,

it can turn out that there was a small detail that you missed,

or maybe a bit of small print that you just didn't understand.

But that is not the case with the stories that we've got coming up this time.

In fact, it's almost worse than that.

Promises made to get your business were not correct,

sometimes deliberately, other times not.

But as we'll see, it's not just fly-by-night companies that can

bamboozle you with misleading promises.

Even big names can be caught doing it.

Coming up... As yet more companies fail to deliver

on promises of getting back your mis-sold PPI,

we show you the best way to find out

if you're owed thousands of pounds.

They're not a help to anybody, you don't need them,

you can do everything yourself.

The modelling company caught on tape lying to get new business.

They were plugging directly in to the heart of a parent

who wants their child to be happy, succeed, get a job.

They were cynically after my wallet.

And a problem shared is a problem solved at our consumer advice shop.

Next, three letters that have become a real financial hot potato over the last couple of years - PPI.

Now I'm sure you know by now that stands for payment protection insurance,

a policy that turned out to be mis-sold to millions of people right across the UK.

And as a result, what seems like no end of companies have sprung up

offering to help you claim back money that you should never have paid in the first place.

Well, we've investigated some of those companies before,

but I'm afraid they show no sign of going away,

and that's despite the fact that most people don't even need their help anyway.

You'd be much better ignoring the middleman and claiming your money back yourself,

something this next couple wishes they'd known before they signed up.

There are now around 3,000 of them out there, with their ads everywhere.

And they may even bombard you with texts and phone calls.

We're talking about the companies promising that, in return for a fee,

they'll get you back money they reckon you're owed through missold payment protection insurance.

Like many others, grandparents Ann and Michael Costello had no idea they might be entitled to anything.

Until, that is, two years ago,

when one of these companies suddenly called Ann right out of the blue.

A company called Tucan Claims called me saying they could get me PPI

back from any credit cards or any loans that I've had over so many years

and they said they'd already refunded lots of money for a lot of customers.

I didn't know I had any PPI on any of my loans or any of my credit cards.

I wasn't aware at that time if I had any or not.

Ann wasn't sure that she wanted to go ahead,

but Tucan Claims reassured her that they were registered with the Ministry Of Justice

and that recently they'd got another customer £7,000 back.

So she signed up, agreeing to pay Tucan Claims 10% of whatever they recovered on her behalf,

and an upfront fee of £250 - although she did wonder why that was exactly necessary.

I thought that if they did their job right,

if they were charging a 10% fee, that's a way of being paid.

I didn't think they needed an upfront fee, anyway.

Tucan Claims told Ann that seven different companies could owe her money.

But in order to access her records, she'd need to pay each of them ten pounds,

which she did, but it took over a year before Tucan sent her

a confirmation letter to say that they had been successful with a claim.

It stated that they were happy to tell me

that they'd negotiated a refund of £802 from a credit card.

Of course I was really pleased,

because this was the first time any money looked as though it was coming back to me.

It may have looked like the cash was on its way, but, sadly, it never materialised.

So Ann rang the credit card company that was supposed to be making the refund,

to check why they hadn't sent the money on to Tucan.

And what she was told next came as quite a shock.

They'd already sent the amount of money to Tucan Claims.

It went on the 12th of November.

I got the letter on the 17th of November,

and they cashed the cheque in the bank on the 23rd of November.

So, that was it, my money had gone into Tucan Claims's bank.

I've not seen it since.

Although they'd certainly received her money,

Tucan Claims hadn't sent one penny of it on to Ann.

So what had they done with it?

I was calling two or three times a week to try and chase up where this money was.

Excuse after excuse,

I never got an answer of when the money was coming at all.

Just couldn't get any ideas about the refund.

So Ann and her husband decided to do their own research

into reclaiming payment protection insurance.

And they soon discovered a website that they wished they'd known about in the first place.

It just said, download this information and you can send off and find out yourself

if you've got PPI on any loans or any credit cards, which he did.

We downloaded the form and we sent it off for a credit card of my husband's

and within five weeks of him sending off the information he got a cheque back into the bank.

So while husband Michael had got his PPI payments back without

paying a middleman, Ann was left bitterly regretting

ever agreeing to let Tucan Claims reclaim money on her behalf.

I just feel totally disgusted with Tucan Claims, the company,

they're not a help to anybody, you don't need them,

you just... You can do everything yourself.

I'm not happy at all about them, I'm absolutely fed up.

In February, three months after Tucan Claims had cashed the cheque,

Ann got in touch with them once again.

On the advice of the Citizens Advice Bureau,

she threatened them with court action if they didn't pay up within 28 days.

I've not heard a single word from them,

they're just not interested. I think they're just not bothered.

I think my money is in their bank making lots of interest for them,

and I think I'm just like a lot of other people,

I don't know where the money has gone.

I haven't got it.

Ann isn't the only one very unhappy with Tucan Claims.

In April, the Ministry Of Justice, which regulates companies like these,

prohibited them from providing any further claims management activities.

And that sort of action happens quite regularly.

In the last 12 months, the Ministry Of Justice

has struck off their register 700 other companies

who promised to reclaim missold payment protection insurance.

And that's just under a quarter of the entire industry.

As for Tucan Claims, the company has now gone into liquidation.

Which perhaps explains why no-one from the company

has responded to our calls, emails or letters.

They were ordered to repay all refunds to customers by May.

But Ann still hasn't got her money back.

She can try to claim it back through Tucan's administrators,

but so far, she's had no luck.

However, there is some light on the horizon for Anne.

As of next year, she, and anyone else who has lost money through claims management

companies will be able to take their case to the legal ombudsman

who will be able to ensure compensation is given where appropriate.

But for the time being, Ann has learned the hard way

that if you want to reclaim your PPI,

the best way to do it is to do it yourself.

For more information on how to do that,

and for details on how to take a complaint about a claims management company

to the legal ombudsman, you can always log onto our website.

Well, as Ann has discovered, you don't usually need

one of these companies to help you reclaim any mis-sold PPI,

and it's usually pretty straightforward to do it yourself.

Paul Lewis from Radio 4's Moneybox programme is here to explain how.

I never recommend going to any company that tries to get

payment protection insurance compensation for you.

First of all, there's no point, you can do it yourself.

There's lots of help online.

Which? - the consumer organization - has a dedicated part if its website to help you.

So does moneysavingexpert.com,

so you can see if you are due compensation

and how to make the claim.

And they both have template letters to fill in.

Now, I'm sure a lot of you are thinking,

"Well, I may not have the documents, I don't know where I filed them,

"I probably threw them away." Don't worry,

the firm that sold you the insurance will have to provide them for you.

They will see if you were a customer, whether you were sold insurance,

and the terms on which you were sold it.

Now, once you've sent that letter, the firm has 8 weeks to reply.

If it hasn't replied in 8 weeks

or if it's sent you a reply you don't like,

then you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which will arbitrate.

What you have to get back is all the premiums you paid for the policy right throughout its life,

plus interest at 8% a year on those premiums.

If the offer is any less than that, don't accept it,

go to the Ombudsman because the Ombudsman is there to arbitrate,

and the vast majority of people who go there get their money.

These days we live in what many people will think of as an age of celebrity and glamour,

but you know, it's not just television talent shows that might encourage you to think that,

well, you too could have your moment in the spotlight.

You often write to us about companies who, for a fee,

will offer to get you modelling work,

and after you've paid it, well, in the cases that we've heard about,

the work that had sounded so likely to happen, never quite comes off.

So, if you've ever wondered exactly how people are persuaded

to sign up to these companies, well, here's someone who recorded all the calls,

meaning that we can tell which bits are true, and which aren't.

Like all mothers, Sam Hewitt from Lincoln thinks that her daughters are adorable.

And she got such a positive reaction from friends to pictures

that she'd taken of her eldest daughter, Sienna,

that she decided to send them off to some modelling companies that she found online.

I contacted four different companies,

and I didn't really expect anything to happen, to be honest with you.

But it did!

She got a call from a company called Form Models,

which started an expensive chain of events.

They phoned up, just said who they were and that they'd seen a picture of Sienna,

how beautiful she was, she'll go really far in this career.

So, I just went weak at the knees at just that.

Form Models said they needed Sam and Sienna to come to London for a test shoot,

but there'd be a payment involved.

They was really keen to book her in, too keen, thinking back now,

but said all we need is £50 deposit just to secure your booking

and then as soon as you've turned up for the test shoot you'll get your money back for that.

They said that once she'd gone for the test shoot

we'd see how she was in front of the camera,

and if she was successful, then we'd get her work.

She then started reeling off how much a week she could actually get.

With stars in her eyes, Sam paid the money by credit card for Sienna,

and was also encouraged to sign up her younger daughter, Olivia.

She then phoned her husband to tell him the good news.

He said about the fake modelling agencies that were out there.

So I started to freak out a little bit then,

and looked into it a bit more and then found that they didn't really have a very good write up at all.

Sam phoned Form Models two days later to cancel her shoot.

I mentioned that I thought that they're a modelling agency

and she then said, "We never said that we were a modelling agency,

"that's just the way you thought that we were."

On closer inspection,

the Form Models website says it's not a model agency,

but a modelling platform, and that it doesn't provide work for models.

After managing to cancel,

Sam thought all that she'd lost was a little pride.

But when she got her next credit card statement, she realised she'd lost an awful lot more.

They'd charged £140 per child for cancelling the photo shoot,

and then £50 per child for the actual deposit that they'd kept.

That's a total of £380.

I felt sick about it all,

It was like £380 out of the account for nothing.

Despite phoning and emailing,

Sam had no luck getting her money back from Form Models.

Luckily for her, as she'd paid on her credit card,

she was able to claim it back through her credit card company.

I feel really stupid about it all, to be honest with you,

but then I'm a mother and I got led in by her nice comments of the children.

Sam was lucky. We've heard from other people who DID go through with photo shoots

that were arranged by Form Models, who said that they were then

talked into handing over hundreds of pounds to buy picture portfolios.

In fact, that is not how proper model agencies do things,

and nor would they normally ask for a deposit.

Felix Dawes from the Wirral also contacted Form Models.

He was looking for a way to earn a bit of extra cash during the summer.

Originally I looked on the internet for modelling firms, modelling agencies,

and Form Models popped up at the top, one of the sponsored links.

And, four days later, the company gave him a call.

When they first got in touch they said I was perfect model material, exactly what they were looking for.

Very flattering, I was really, really excited.

At that point, the Form Models representative asked to speak to Felix's mother.

I'd just come home from work, staggered in through the front door and Felix came running to me

with this bloke on the phone and said, "Mum, Mum, there's a model agency on the phone,

"they want me to go down for a test shoot."

And I spoke to him and there was this incredibly excited bloke, effusive,

saying how wonderful my son was, he had boyband looks and he was really gorgeous,

and I felt myself, my stomach start to contract thinking,

"Wow, I've got a gorgeous child!" And you don't...

You know your own child is gorgeous to you, but you never think that professionals

might be ringing you up and asking your child to come and work for them.

But this time, Form Models had made the wrong call.

Felix's mum is a BBC journalist.

So she grabbed her Dictaphone and recorded the conversation.

I knew this couldn't be real, and that's when I grabbed my tape recorder,

They were so positive about how wonderful this was,

how important it was that we rush to do this and grab this opportunity.

And the fact they wanted me involved as well made me very suspicious.

The parent side of me really wanted this to be real.

The journalist side of me knew it couldn't possibly be.

We've listened to the whole call.

And there are several bits that are nonsense. Like this, for starters...

It wouldn't be illegal to photograph Felix without his mum.

So why would they be so insistent that she was there?

Could it be perhaps because she'd be more likely to have the money to buy the pictures?

It was quite clear that what he was really after was my credit card.

Because my son doesn't have a credit card and doesn't have any money,

he was flattering me about my gorgeous child in order to get me to allow this all to happen.

So in other words, you are being pressured

and forced into making a decision very, very quickly.

"If you don't make the decision now,

"if you don't buy the portfolio now, we'll kill the pictures,

"we delete them for copyright reasons."

Copyright reasons? Come off it.

It's made clear several times during the call that Felix's test shoot

wouldn't guarantee him work.

But the overall impression is that he stands a good chance of getting it,

especially because of claims like this one...

That's NOT true. We checked with both high street names,

and they told us they'd never used this company and certainly didn't have any work with them now.

So we asked Form Models about what we'd heard on the call, and the way that they do business.

They reiterated they're not an agency but a modelling platform.

And they say that that means they work alongside models

to help them get casting opportunities and contacts,

without charging any commission or admin fee.

They accept they have not helped models to get work with River Island or H&M.

They didn't say why Felix and his mum were told otherwise,

but they did send us the name of other companies for which they have provided models.

Although when we contacted these companies,

some of them said they had also never worked with Form Models.

Form Models say it's clearly stated on their website

that models under 22 need to be accompanied by a parent at their photoshoots.

That's so that they can...

And to stop them ordering photos out of their price range...

They stress that at these test shoots they offer many different types of portfolio,

starting with single images at £50,

and there is no obligation or minimum purchase.

Meanwhile, Felix and his mum are glad they did not sign up with Form Models.

But they can understand why others have.

They take peoples' hopes up, people who might not have much

and want to, you know, get out there,

get out in the world, be the people on the poster boards.

'They were plugging directly in to the heart of a parent

'who wants their child to be happy, succeed, get a job.'

They were cynically after my wallet.

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain,

the fraudulent mobile phone apps that are secretly stealing your money.

It was pretty clear that I wasn't the only person in the country

to have suspicious text messages on their mobile phone.

-JULIA:

-'For one weekend only,

'we've set up our very own one-stop consumer advice shop.

'Inside, our team of experts is ready and waiting

'to offer practical advice on your consumer issues.'

The solicitors' fees came to £800.

The flight's still here, we're still here, you can't have your money back.

-So have you paid him at all for what he did?

-Just under £1,000.

'Sarah has been telling Trading Standards expert Sylvia Rook

'how she feels well and truly misled after buying son Ross

'what she thought was a great value birthday treat.'

We've recently purchased a paintballing experience day out for ten people,

and I said to the salesman, "That seems very, very cheap."

It was £60 for 10 people.

I said to him, "There must be more to pay,"

and he said, "No it's a one-off special offer."

Having got the pack home and read it properly,

we've realised that the price we actually paid for the product

is nowhere near the price we'll actually have to pay on the day.

It's going to cost approximately £300 more to use.

The situation is slightly difficult because of the fact that your husband signed a contract.

I would always say never sign something unless you've read it,

even if you're being put under pressure,

spend time reading the small print.

Having said that, if you were induced into entering a contract through a misrepresentation,

and had you known all the facts you would not have signed up,

then that puts you in a very strong position.

'And it seems Sarah isn't the only person in the area

'to feel ripped off after buying a paintball package.

'Gillian fell for the same package.'

So you thought you were paying £59.99 for a full day for 10 people?

Yeah. But actually when I went to book up, they had said "Oh, it's £9.99 per person."

I think what you need to do is you need to write to the company and say

that you were misled when you entered into the contract.

Had they been honest with you, you would never have signed up for that contract.

-You paid on credit card?

-I did, yeah.

When you pay on credit card, you're also covered by the Consumer Credit Act,

so if the trader won't give you a refund, you can make a claim against the credit card company.

-Oh, good.

-It's very important you also speak to Trading Standards,

because Trading Standards can look and see if the company are deliberately misleading consumers,

and they can take action against the company in relation to the way they trade.

-Yeah.

-I hope you manage to find some way to celebrate your birthday soon.

-Thank you very much for coming.

-OK, thanks.

'Travel expert Simon Calder has been listening to your holiday nightmares,

'and there's something bugging our next consumer, Carol, after her recent family holiday to Turkey.'

There were these black insects all over the headboard and all over my husband's pillow.

We spoke to hotel reception the next morning, we showed them the insects

and she said, "Yes, they're bedbugs." We expressed our disappointment.

Since we've arrived home, I've sent two e-mails back to the hotel

saying that, you know, it was a bit disappointing

and would we be able to be recompensed in any way, you know?

And what did they say?

I've never had a reply from the e-mail.

Simon I know you're ITCHING to sort this out,

but that is horrific isn't it?

Well, yeah. I mean this hotel wasn't, dare I say, UP TO SCRATCH.

However, the hotel's in Turkey, it's outside the EU,

so a lot of the consumer rights that you would normally get do not apply.

If you'd bought the holiday through a tour operator,

you might be a bit luckier.

It is unsettling, but I'm afraid it's one of those things where

there is no legal recourse for being unsettled.

I'm afraid I can't see any way through this.

It is a horrible story, and I'm really sorry you've all had to go through it. How awful!

'We've been meeting consumers face to face

'and hearing about their concerns all weekend.'

-I've been a victim of card fraud.

-Oh!

-Come with me.

-Let's go.

I know, I won't lead you astray, I tell you.

So nice meeting you.

Big companies can spend millions on advertising because they know

it really is the most effective way to get their message across.

The trouble is, they can be so keen to push that message

that sometimes they don't quite tell you the whole story,

and you can end up being seduced by a claim

that may not be completely true.

So if you've ever felt had by an ad, here's an experiment you can play along with at home.

Take a look at these ads and see if you can guess what they've all got in common.

'Do you remember seeing these ads on television?

'Well, you won't see them any more.

'All were banned from being shown again in their current form,

'after parts of them were ruled to be misleading.

'So what was wrong with them?'

Now, I want to find out how we're taken in by the adverts we look at,

the impact that it has on us, the way we're misled,

and ultimately the consequences to the advertising company.

So we've set up an experiment.

With the help of this man's expertise - Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos.

He's a senior lecturer in consumer psychology

at the London Metropolitan University.

My role at the university is to conduct research in order to

understand how people may be affected and understand advertising.

How to become aware of these strategies and avoid any unnecessary purchasing, if possible.

'For our test, we've invited along some of the students

'from the university where Dimitrios lectures.

'We'll show them ads that have fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority,

'and we'll see if they can work out

'why they were ruled misleading in some way.'

Good morning. Thank you very much indeed for joining in in our experiment.

I'm going to show you a selection of TV ads

and then we are going to ask you your opinions.

The first ad to be put to the test is for Harvey's,

the furniture store.

-'My furniture makes me feel like a woman.

-There, you've said it.

-'I very much have.

-The Harvey's eight day sale. Ends Monday, 8pm.'

Well, there you have it, I can see you all analyzing, thinking,

"What am I looking for here?"

Well, I've just moved recently so I was definitely interested in the half-price deal

because I have to buy sofas.

Do you feel the urgency? Do you think you want to race before Monday at eight o'clock?

I did, I did, yeah, yeah.

OK. Now what is the truth about what happened after the sale finished?

Well, the truth of the matter is that there was another introduction

of another sale after the eight days,

so the manufacturer and the company were not clear in terms of how long the sale will actually last.

'In May, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints

'against the ad, because the last thing you would expect

'after being told the exact time the sale would end,

'would be that the next day prices would go even lower.

'Well, we did ask Harveys if they wanted to comment on this, but they didn't.'

How would you now feel if you'd rushed before Monday at eight o'clock?

Cheated, because actually there's no sale at all, it sounds like.

It's misleading.

'Next, an ad from Center Parcs.'

'What would you like your children to inherit? A house?

'A clock? The family silver? Or something a little more valuable?'

Interesting. Now, being a grandparent myself,

I actually quite like the look of that ad.

Who would like to kick this one off?

Overall I would say it's a catchy ad and I guess this would sell.

I noticed the price, as well, at the top.

It was just very small, but it was "from" I think £249,

so I think that might be a little bit misleading, if people

are expecting to have as good a time as the family in the advert are having for that price,

I don't think they'd be able to do it.

-GLORIA CHUCKLES

-So, Dimitrios, the idea seems pretty good in this case.

Advertising is about a memory, a feeling and an experience,

and they're showcasing lovely experiences for their kids.

However, the interesting case about this particular ad

-is that the offer is only available during the week.

-What do you mean, during school time?

-It's only available during school time?

-Exactly, yes.

-That's really misleading.

-And it's also not available during school holidays,

so how can you actually enjoy this particular ad

for that particular age group of children they are showcasing?

'So last May, the ASA pulled the ad from our screens

'because they, too, thought that an ad so clearly aimed at families

'was misleading, as the offer was available only during school term,

'which would obviously make it impossible for most families to go.

'Center Parcs tell us that they think

'the ASA's ruling was rather harsh,

'saying that they've always stuck to the advertising rules,

'and at no point were they trying to mislead with this ad.

'The family was a real one, used to depict a general representation

'of the family experience at Center Parcs, regardless of the ages of the children.

'And they point out that there was only one complaint about the ad.

'Next, from holidays, to pay days.'

So this ad is about Wage Day Advance, a rather interesting one.

'There you have it.

'Wage Day Advance helped Sam get the break she - sorry, they - wanted.

'Back to the studio.

'In other news, Kim, a teacher from Aberdeen

'wanted to avoid her bank's unauthorised overdraft fees,

'so she borrowed £70 at a cost of £20.65, payable on her next pay day.

-'Nice.

-Wage Day Advance, making any day your wage day.'

A lot of percentages there, a lot of information,

and a lot of spending going on, apart from the debt.

Have any of you got feelings about that?

I think it's really, really wrong to kind of encourage people to take out loans to pay the bank.

I couldn't see the APR on the bottom of the screen on that one.

It was full of very upbeat people and smiling faces.

I thought that was interesting, to maybe suggest if you are in debt

and you take a loan from this company,

you'll have a smile back on your face and you'll be very happy again.

-Ultimately misleading then?

-Yeah I would think, so. Yeah.

These ads are not just misleading, but they're educating a nation in terms of easy debt,

and they are targeting really, really young people.

And at what point was this taken off?

they were making complaints about the visibility of the APR.

It was actually underneath the very fluorescent and colourful banner.

So, distracting your attention from what is really meaningful.

And the APR was over 2,000%.

And that key detail is what the Advertising Standards Authority

said in May, ruling that it should have been displayed more clearly.

The company has told us they don't consider it misleading,

pointing out they happily showed the APR on the ad,

and always make the rate clear when anyone takes out a loan.

They say of the millions of people who saw the ad,

only 14 said they couldn't read the APR,

at which point they immediately removed it.

Remember that anyone can make a complaint to the ASA.

In 2011 alone they received 31,000 complaints, and as a result,

four and a half thousand ads were changed or withdrawn.

Others ruled misleading were

Sainsbury's promise that you could feed your family for £50.

'That's why at Sainsbury's you can now feed

'a family of four for a week for just 50 quid.'

The regulator said that, in fact,

you might need to buy extra food for some of the menus.

And then there was this ad.

'New Sanex Zero% contains just the ingredients you need

'for clean, healthy skin.'

The regulator upheld complaints that actually the product also contained man-made chemicals,

as well as a fragrance that wasn't necessary for clean, healthy skin.

Now, for our students, and indeed me, it's been a real eye-opening day.

It made me think about some adverts that I've seen before,

but made me think about them in a different way.

I didn't realize so many of them were so misleading.

I learned today that I can actually be quite gullible,

because I found some of the ads to be really nice, really enticing, really wonderful,

and then I found out later that they were taken off.

From now on I'll be really thinking about what I see

and what I go out and buy, and hopefully saving a bit of money from it.

Just one complaint can lead to an ad being changed or withdrawn,

so the message is, if you've come across one

that you'd like the Advertising Standards Authority to investigate,

well, the details on what to do are on our website...

Sometimes, when you feel ripped off,

it could be you that's made a mistake.

Perhaps you didn't read the small print,

or realize the consequences of what you signed up to.

Well, whoever's at fault, when things go wrong,

you need to know what to do about it.

So, we've put together a booklet of tips and advice.

Now, you can find a link to the new, free guide on our website...

To receive a copy in the post, send a stamped, self-addressed,

A5 envelope to the address which we'll give you

right at the end of the programme.

And now something that millions of people in the UK would say has revolutionized their lives.

More than a quarter of adults and over half of teenagers now own a smart phone of some sort.

High-tech gadgets that don't just make calls,

they'll book your holiday, operate your TV,

they'll even take money out of the cashpoint for you.

So, it surely can't be too long before someone finds a way

to get them to make you a cup of tea.

But beware, because wherever there's a clever new technology,

there's someone equally clever, thinking of ways that they can use it to trick you out of your cash.

They're designed to make life easier.

So is it any wonder that we love them so much?

I'm so reliant on my smartphone and couldn't imagine my life without it.

The thing I like most about my phone is how it has

so many different ways of connecting with other people.

It's a mini computer, literally, so I can just carry it around wherever I want.

And what smartphone owners love most of all is the apps -

software applications that you can download to do...

well, just about anything.

There are apps to tell you when to get on the next bus,

and games to play while you're on it. All at the swipe of a finger!

The cinema app on my phone is great,

I can check what times films are on at and what cinema I can go to.

When it comes to games on the phone, I've got Cut The Rope

and Angry Birds, which quite a lot of people have.

Indeed they have.

The Angry Birds game has been downloaded a BILLION times.

Even Prime Minister David Cameron says he's a fan.

I downloaded it and my children got interested in it, and it is quite addictive.

An app like Angry Birds might typically cost around 69p.

But with so many people buying them, this is big business.

A fact that hasn't gone unnoticed by fraudsters.

They're now creating rogue smartphone apps,

copying the original games,

and designed to steal money from you without you realizing it.

As John Gladstone discovered.

What they've spotted is that the phone itself is actually a direct link

to peoples' bank accounts.

They can charge you and they can get to your money through your phone.

John is an engineer from Southampton. He loves his gadgets.

I like my toys. I like to play with things, I like to fiddle with new technologies.

John got his very first smartphone in December of last year.

And he couldn't wait to start downloading his apps.

I was very excited.

I started to download lots and lots of applications,

and before I knew where I was, I'd already filled the phone memory up.

The shiny new phone was an Android handset, developed by online giant, Google.

They also run the site for downloading Android apps, Google Play.

I found a website who recommended top ten apps.

I downloaded the prerequisite Angry Birds and other apps

that pretty much everyone has had on their phone at some point.

A lot of them were free and so I thought, "Why not,

"if it's free then what's the harm?"

John had no reason to worry about anything that he'd downloaded.

But he did notice that when he tried to use the apps,

some of them wouldn't work properly.

A few of them maybe didn't open properly,

just the screen kind of went black, the phone crashed.

Because they'd been free, John didn't worry too much about

the apps that weren't working,

or at least he didn't until a few weeks later

when his phone bill arrived with some unexpected costs.

I was quite shocked that I had £15 worth of text messages.

My normal phone bill is only £5 a month, so I instantly knew something was wrong.

John contacted his phone company, who explained that the £15

was down to three premium rate text messages, which had cost £5 each.

John was baffled.

I have never sent,

nor do I ever intend to send, a premium rate text message.

I've got far better things to spend my money on

than spending £5 on a message like that.

Though John insisted he hadn't sent them,

his phone company was adamant that the messages had come from his phone.

They recommended that he contact Phonepay Plus,

the body that regulates the UK's premium rate services.

When I spoke to Phonepay Plus, it was pretty clear that

I wasn't the only person in the country to have the same

suspicious text messages on their mobile phone.

In fact, they were already looking into 34 similar complaints

from people who'd been charged for messages they knew nothing about.

It turns out there'd been something very sneaky

lurking inside a few of those apps that John had downloaded.

Nitin Lanchani was involved in the investigation.

Malicious applications were uploaded

to the official Android market place.

They were made to look like free games

which otherwise you would need to pay for.

Popular games such as Angry Birds, Assassin's Creed, Cut The Rope.

By hooking up a computer to a phone,

he can demonstrate exactly what happened to John

and hundreds of others around the world who downloaded those free games.

It's going to shed a light on any background processes

which the user doesn't normally see.

When the apps are installed the phone is blank, as if nothing is going on.

But the computer screen shows that hidden away in the background

is all sorts of secret activity, and Nitin can work out what that means.

We grab that, and we can decode that,

and it states, "You've been billed £5 for this message."

So if we have a look at the phone itself

and go to the inbox, none of that activity can be seen.

So these fake versions of games like Angry Birds

had caused a lot of angry customers, including John.

It's not clear exactly which of the apps he'd downloaded was the culprit,

but whichever it was, when he thought it had simply crashed,

it had secretly been triggering those premium rate texts

and racking up charges to his bill.

It looks like a clever scam.

But not clever enough.

Phonepay Plus were able to take action and stop it,

but only after whoever was responsible

had earned themselves tens of thousands of pounds.

And although THIS smartphone scam has been foiled, more are sure to follow,

as Phonepay Plus chief executive Paul Whiteing explains.

As more people are getting smartphones

which are computers of a form,

then risks of this malicious type of activity is growing.

We expect it to grow further and consumers will need to be aware of this problem

and try to take action to watch out for it.

So, John will be keeping a close eye on his smartphone in the future.

Certainly these days I'm a little more cautious before

pushing the button to download the app,

that I'm really sure I know what I'm downloading and I'm confident that it's not anything malicious.

-JULIA:

-Here at Rip-Off Britain, we're always ready to investigate more of your stories.

Confused over your bills?

Trying to wade through wadges of small print that leave you totally confused?

When they sit you down to sign up for things, they don't really

give you the chance or the time to read through all of that small print.

Unsure what to do when you discover you've lost out,

and that so-called "great deal" has ended up costing you money?

You feel as though, because you've got a cheap deal, you are not worth their time in the same way.

You might have a cautionary tale of your own

and want to share the mistakes you made with us, so others don't do the same.

I feel angry. I feel stupid that I'd allowed this to happen to me.

You can write to us at...

Or send us an email to...

The Rip-Off team is ready and waiting to investigate your stories.

You know, I think it's fair to say that very few companies deliberately set out to mislead.

But, you know, on the whole we're a trusting lot,

and not unreasonably, most of us do tend to believe what we're told,

whether it's in an advertisement or because we hear it on the phone.

In the end, the priority for even the most honest company

is trying to get your custom, so before you agree to anything,

let alone handing over money, make sure you've time to see if it's all as it seems.

Couldn't agree more.

I think the best advice is don't take anything at face value,

especially if somebody's trying to get you to make a decision

in a hurry, or indeed if they've contacted you right out of the blue.

Well, with that advice, that's just where we've got to leave for today.

Thanks very much for being with us and hopefully we'll see you again soon.

-Until then, from all of us, bye-bye.

-Bye.

-Bye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.