top bar
QuickTopic free message boards logo
Skip to Messages

TOPIC:

Mosquitos: more than just a perishing nuisance

3
Guy KewneyPerson was signed in when posted
08-16-2004
12:16 PM ET (US)
Thanks very much! I've corrected the link - duh - and stuffed in a paragraph pointing to your story.
2
Robert Carnegie
08-13-2004
06:13 AM ET (US)
Firstly, the link to "ttp://www.symbian.com/press-office/2004/pr040810.html" probably should be http://www.symbian.com/press-office/2004/pr040810.html , yeah?

And the game is called "Mosquitos", apparently - plural.

Secondly, it's been reported elsewhere that premium-rate charges aren't involved, perhaps because the numbers concerned were disconnected, or weren't premium-rate, Or never existed, or a combination of the above. Ah... http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/mquito.shtml says disconnected (citing "the manufacturer", who didn't tell us, because that lowers the fear level). It'll still cost you, though, regular rate, say ten pence each. Presumably if the premium service was running, it'd only do it once...?

So, conclusions were jumped to - and a misapprehension can run around the online world before the truth has got its Nike trainers on.

According to the Symbian release, this is a hacked pre-release version of the software which did contain a phone-home function. The software author's site is presently mum.

I notice the Symbian FAQ doesn't include "how do I get my money back?" So presumably you don't, just as with PC rogue diallers.

.
Edited 08-13-2004 06:15 AM
1
Guy KewneyPerson was signed in when posted
08-12-2004
05:05 AM ET (US)
You might think that anybody would be wary of downloading a game called Mosquito but especially one which can't vouch for its bona fides.

But no: people have been downloading a Trojan, which instantly turns their phone into a money well for some anonymous hacker...
Upgrade to PRO

Upload pictures, personalize your board, and more!

Print | RSS Views: 1188 (Unique: 509 ) / Subscribers: 0 | What's this?