What advice should I give my students about premium rate services, like voting lines for TV shows?
Premium rate (or paid-for) services, such as TV voting lines, horoscopes and ringtones, are popular with young people and cost more than standard calls and texts.
Your students might not be aware that they are accessing a premium rate service and could be at risk of running up large phone bills so encourage them to look out for a couple of things before calling or texting:
- Premium rate calls are usually accessed though numbers beginning with 090 and texts via numbers that are only 4 or 5 digits long.
- The small print in adverts for premium rate services - in teen magazines, for example - should explain the cost per minute and whether the user is signing an agreement with a third party to use the service.
To help protect children and young people, many leading mobile network providers offer call barring services that prevent users under a certain age from calling or texting premium rate services. Your student's family can contact their provider for further information.
Where can I find out more?
- Many of the mobile network providers offer information and advice about dealing with unsolicited text messages - click here for their contact details.
- Watch this video by PhonepayPlus.
- Check out the special website about premium rate services and young people at Phonebrain.
- To make a complaint about a premium rate service, contact the regulatory body PhonepayPlus.
- Click here for our tips on privacy and personal safety.