My young daughter was given a iPhone 3gs a few months back with an Optus prepaid SIM chip. She loved it and we thought it would be good for security & contactability; she has her fav iTunes on it etc.
I topped up her prepaid monthly when needed (although she is under strict instructions not to squander & restrict SMS), this month I reviewed her usage after she was out of credit after 2 days, which also happened last month!
Turns out the waala.com.Au had charged 2x$5 at a certain time of day every day that credit was there. Credit expired in a matter of days. This $10 a day was a charge to receive a text message! My daughter maintained that she did NOT request this text message. It is in fact an unsolicited fraud. Same as for other Waala scam victims, Optus maintained that the gripe was with Waala (Dada) & not Optus; fortunately the Optus call center had the Dada number on hand 1800 178 017 (lucky that)
After advising Optus that their "Premium Service" (which this scam is classed under) should be barred by default on new SIM chips and that I would be escalating this issue with the authorities including the Telecommunications Department & ombudsman, they generously provided one month's prepaid credit, in the true Xmas spirit good on you Optus! They also advised that they were reviewing whether Premium Service should be barred by default on new SIM chips.
Waala (Dada) were not so forthcoming with restitution for this fraud.
We will be actioning this issue with our fraud security team for determination of investigation of company owners.
We are still in pursuit...
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