Beware premium rate text competitions: how costs rack up

Tempted to enter a text-in radio competition? Think again. Piper Terrett explains how she lost money trying to win big.

I’m looking at my mobile phone bill in disbelief.

For some reason, it is twice what it should be – £28.88.

These days it is usually just £14.

When I look at the breakdown in charges, it’s clear where most of the extra spend has come from – premium rate texts.

I rack my brains as to why on earth I would have been texting them and then I remember – it was trying to win £30,000 in a long-running radio competition.

It was one when they tell you to listen out for a particular artist and text in when you hear it two or three times.

I admit, I’d even stopped the car a few times by the side of the road on the way back from the school run to enter.

Foolishly, I thought I was getting a bargain because they texted back, saying I could get four entries for the price of two.

What a deal – not! What I hadn’t noticed was that most of the texts were costing me £1.50 plus my standard network rate.

And this wasn’t included in my mobile package, hence the additional charges

Luck (won’t) be a lady

Frankly, I should have known better than to enter. I am one of those people who rarely win anything.

OK – once, aged seven, I won a stuffed koala bear at a school Christmas fair and, aged 14, a packet of biscuits in a church raffle, but that was the extent of my lucky streak.

I recently bought two tickets in a school raffle to win a signed Tottenham Hotspurs shirt, confident in the knowledge that, as a life-long West Ham supporter and serial loser, there was no way I was in danger of winning it.

But, especially when money is short, it can be tempting to imagine you could win big and be in a position to pay off your mortgage or take your family on a dream holiday.

And it’s interesting just how many premium rate text-in competitions seem to be running on the major commercial radio stations right now.

It can’t be a coincidence.

“Text in when you hear this song and you could win £100,000 with our radio station!” plug the presenters.

The house always wins

However, the truth is that you’re not winning money from the radio station.

The handful of listeners who strike it lucky are actually winning money off their fellow listeners.

That’s because the prize money is paid for by the premium rate texts and all the other listeners who, like me, are naïve enough to part with their money.

Many of these stations have tens of thousands of listeners, so it’s easy for them to raise revenue in this way.

Luckily, I only lost £15 and have learned my lesson – it’s £15 I no longer have available to spend on my family’s Christmas presents or anything else I might need – but other listeners may be losing a lot more.

“I’ve been trying to win this money for ages!” said a winner on one station only this week.

Yes, she had been lucky enough to win but I wonder just how much cash she had already paid out in the process.

Other listeners may not have been as lucky and entering these types of competitions could easily become a habit or even addictive.

How premium rate competitions are regulated

If you’re not sure whether you’re calling or texting a premium rate number, be aware that they usually begin with 09, 118, 0871, 0872 and 0873 or sometimes 070, according to Ofcom.

Five and six digit numbers which you can use to enter competitions, download mobile games or donate to charity using your mobile are known as mobile text short-code numbers and are also considered premium rate.

The operators are also required by law to tell you how much the texts cost. Premium rate texts can cost anything from 25p to £3 each.

If you’re worried about a particular premium rate service or how it has been advertised to you, you can complain to the regulator which is the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA).

Companies which offer these competitions must be registered with the PSA and comply with a code of practice.

The regulator has the power to fine them up to £250,000 per breach of this code, apply sanctions and/or force them to reimburse customers.

You can also contact your mobile phone network to ensure that you don’t get charged for any further premium rate texts.

Canny compers enter online

There are ways to get around the premium rate texts and still enter the competitions, however. Most of them now also offer entry for free via the radio station website. However, with many of these Christmas competitions, it isn’t possible to enter for free online.

Be aware, too, that many of the operators who run competitions whether over the radio or online are also interested in obtaining your personal details.

Scammers have also been known to use competitions on social media platforms to con people out of their cash or steal personal information. 

Expert competition entrants also advise not to use your personal email address but to set-up one especially for entering competitions so that you aren’t pestered by the resultant spam mail you could receive.

Otherwise, win big this Christmas by holding onto your hard-earned cash and if you still want to enter competitions, find ones that are free to do so.

As for me, I will be steering clear of anything other than the school raffle from now on.

Have you ever entered a competition that charged a premium rate? Did you win anything? Let us know your experience in the comments section below