BTInternet / BT Internet / BTAnytime / BT Anytime
BTOpenworld / BT Openworld / BT Open World
customers defrauded - BBC exposé
October 2001
BT Internet are downgrading access to those customers who they consider to be 'overusing' their accounts, so that they are no longer able to effectively access the net. This wasting of their customers' time and money is a blatantly cynical, deceitful and fraudulent action.
Their technical support and their customer service departments have been instructed to provide false explanations to customers who phone up to complain about the service. They attempt to persuade customers to purchase line boosters from BT, and/or advise them that their computer equipment needs upgrading (typically the modem, modem driver, processor or the software).
British Telecomms are misleading customers as part of a deliberate policy to secretly downgrade a major part of its internet access so that it is unusable. The purpose of this policy is to force customers to upgrade to a more expensive service. As part of the strategy, customers affected by access restrictions are sent numerous letters and leaflets describing the joys of trouble-free surfing should they change to broadband, although BTI admit this service has also been resticted for customers who are considered to overuse it.
Any individual organising such a scam would be charged with a criminal offense. Any small company behaving similarly would almost certainly be successfully prosecuted for fraud. But BT appear not to care, even though it is now public knowledge that they have been defrauding many of their customers by charging for a service which they have had no intention of providing
Details of British Telecoms' secret projects Mamba and BOA were exposed on the BBC's Watchdog program (11th October 2001).
the above is for the benefit of those affected by the BTInternet MAMBA and BOA projects who are having problems with their internet access -- it is also a warning to those entering into internet service agreements with British Telecoms, that their management have no qualms about promising to provide a service which they have no intention of delivering
BT admits sending internet virus to its customers
British Telecom has admitted infecting the computers of dozens of its internet customers with a virulent new computer virus which can tap passwords for websites
- read the full story at Independent News (28 November 2001)
private dial-in numbers listed on BT Webpage
"So, you're a small company: you've got a private dial-in for the office network and it's ex-directory (natch). With war-dialling a little trickier in the UK than the States, it should be pretty well hidden from crackers, right? Not if one of your employees switches his tariff to BT Together, it isn't. It appears that BT's so paranoid about subscribers using its unlimited call service for Net connections, that it's been automatically flagging any line that gets a lot of incoming BT Together data calls as an 'ISP'. Result: your employee gets a huge phone bill (ISPs are excluded from the flat-rate deal). And you get your private dial-in number listed on the public 'ISP exclusion' Webpage. Together, we note, with around 1400 other juicy data lines, just ready for a cracker to step dandily through. Thanks BT! Putting people first: right after 'profits', about five pages before 'privacy', and a whole private phone directory or two ahead of 'security'."
- from NTK now's newsletter #236 (22 March 2002)
|