help

[Stressed]

Hi there, im new to this forum after just finding it today. Its very good - hopefully you can help me.

On my screen i have something from a company called "Platte Media" saying that I owe a £29.99 for a monthly subscription.  Is it the same company as MBS?  

I telephoned the company yesterday to find out what it was and they said that I had to pay the amount to uninstall it? After researching I have discovered that the company is based in the British Virgin Isles? surely this is a scam? I am worried as I gave them my postcode but stopped giving them any other information as i panicked.
I am also worried that if they know my IP address and my postcode and i do not pay, will they keep charging me or do much worse.

Please help, I dont know what to do, im not sleeping as i am so worried, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Lucy
 

[ForumFriend]

Hello Lucy - and sorry to hear of your plight.  I've just done a quick search on the internet and think this is another incarnation of the same company.  They appear to be recruiting in the Leeds area for a PR person, and as MBS are/were based in Leeds, this would appear to be too much of a coincidence imho.  I will paste here what the recruitment website says about the company:

"Platte International Ltd media division is in the process of launching an on-line digital multi media offering to consumers in the UK and hopes to rapidly expand into the rest of the world market."  They go on to say: "Reporting directly to the MD, previous experience and a demonstrable track record of how to implement a positive business to consumer PR strategy and how to market and develop a diverse on-line multi-media product offering, to differentiate us from our competitors, is essential.

"It is expected that the successful candidate will be well versed in responding to all forms of media enquiries including, TV, radio, off the page and internet forums and will be expected to establish and build journalist relationships."

Which makes me think we will see the new recruit on this forum once they are in post.

Now, MBS have spoken of a relaunch, and I think this must be 'it'.  Since they will be using the same basic software for their billing, I think you can use the fundaments of the advice given here to get the help you need, but bear in mind that any files will probably have new names. 

I'll get in touch with another forum member who has looked into these on other occasions to see what he can find out.

[ForumFriend]

PS

There are also some other reports on other forums (see this, for example: http://forums.computing.co.uk/message.jspa?messageID=1035258#1035258) so it is clearly a newly developing problem.  You may want to read that thread for advice.

[Stressed]

Thanks for your reply..yes it seems they are the same company. Sorry to ask again but do you think they could chase me up if they know my postcode and IP number? im just so upset about it all.

Thanks again

[ForumFriend]

I doubt it, assuming you haven't given any name.  And your ISP shouldn't give out details from your IP number, unless they get a court order.  I'd say that's very unlikely.

[Andy M]

Take a look at

Platte Media's FAQ — recognise the sound of any of these questions?

• Why have I received a bill?
• I don't remember signing up to a membership site
• What memberships do I have?
• How do I view my access log?
• I have never seen a bill notice like this before, is it legal?
• How do I cancel?
• What happens if I do not pay my bill?
• How do I uninstall the Platte Software?
• I have a dispute regarding my subscription, what shall I do?
• What is your refund policy?
• I have paid, why am I still receiving bill reminders?

I have never seen a bill notice like this before, is it legal?

Platte International Limited works closely with UK Statutory bodies including Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

Through consultation Platte International has signed undertakings with the Office of Fair Trading which ensures all of the business processes employed by Platte Media and the terms and conditions to which a consumers agrees during site registration, fully complies with all UK legislation pursuant to S219 of the Enterprise Act 2002 relating to The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTTCR’s) and the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (DSR’s).

Why have I received a bill?

If you are seeing a bill notice on your computer, you or someone to whom you have given access to use your computer, has registered for membership to one of our websites and the subscription fee is now due.  

In order to register for membership the computer user will have followed a prescribed signup process during which the user will have agreed to the terms and conditions to the membership for the site – this can be viewed at www.plattemedia.com/signupprocess.  

Should you wish to discuss this membership please contact our customer services team on 0845 017 8386 between the hours of 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 11.00am to 5.00pm Saturday and Sunday.

What happens if I do not pay my bill?

If you are receiving a bill notice we advise you to contact our customer services team to discuss your account.
 
In line with our terms and conditions Platte International reserve the right to pursue outstanding accounts.

This may include us using your IP address as recorded during site registration to obtain your address and contact you to seek remittance and where necessary take appropriate legal action.

(probably an idle threat)

Looks like we have a new menace to deal with.[/list]

[Stressed]

I came to have the software on my computer after downloading the trial from this site http://www.getfilmsnow.com/ which i thought was similar to Lovefilm.com but you got films delivered to your computer instead of through the post. The site looks legitimate, I certainly didn't think it was run by a porn company.
 
Im pretty naive with the internet and the sign up page on this site said the trial was risk free so i I didn't think it would cause all this trouble.
 
It wasn't until the trial expired that my partner noticed the Platte icon, which kept returning to the desktop when he tried to delete it. This was when I phoned up to be told that the only way they would remove the software was if I paid £29.99.
 
I just want to get rid of the software and forget this happened so I don't know whether the easiest option is to just pay them the 29.99 as it was my fault that the software got on the pc.
 
I just don't know if they will remove all the software, I don't really know how spyware works but I'm worried they might leave some on my computer.

[Andy M]

The site in itself looks legitimate enough, and it's not even necessarily to do with porn.

The fact you have to be over 18 would be because you're effectively entering a financial agreement with them. There probably are some 15 and 18 rated films on there, too.

It looks as if Platte are involved in explicit hardcore pornography as well (see other forum posts for that), in itself that doesn't mean Get Films Now is tainted - depends on your views.

What I still don't like is that these companies play on the likelihood (as seems to have happened in your case) that you'll download the software for a free trial and then forget you had it, or can't find out how to cancel.

It's common, though. I almost had that happen with some music software, fortunately I managed to cancel it on the last day - in this case they had my credit card details which is often how companies do it because they know they can get their money that way instead of holding your machine to ransom.

Anyway, it's up to you whether you pay - if so their T&C's state that they'll send you a code to remove the software. You can then just trust that the uninstall process is complete.