Demand soars for BT scam buster
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Telecoms giant BT this week said it had received more than 80,000 complaints from customers affected by the "rogue dialler" software scam.
Telecoms giant BT this week said it had received more than 80,000 complaints from customers affected by the "rogue dialler" software scam.
The company said more than 2,000 customers a day are downloading free software it is offering, so that they can protect themselves from internet fraudsters. But thousands of customers will still have to pay huge phone bills, racked up after their computers were infected with the software.
The rogue dialler programmes secretly install themselves on internet users' computers and change the number called when people go online so that they are routed through a premium-rate service. Many computer users have only discovered they have a problem when they have received much higher phone bills.
BT has been attacked for requiring its customers to pay these bills, but earlier this year it launched the free protection software. It is also giving away an early-warning system, which computer users can install so that they are alerted if their machine comes under attack.
BT's group managing director, Gavin Paterson, said: "We are pleased up to 83 people an hour are protecting their computer." A spokesman for Icstis, the premium-rate telephone regulator, said it had introduced regulations to protect consumers. But it cannot force phone companies to waive bills.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments