Examining my mobile phone bill today, I saw a suspicious charge called “Ask Mozoot Alerts” under the Mobile Purchases & Downloads: Communication Charges section.
Somehow I was signed up for (I use passive voice because I do not recall or know if this was there was an action on my part that precipitated this) a text messaging service called MoZoot. Users text them questions and they answer them; not terribly useful considering I have Google and the full internet available on my phone. Worse still, I never remember
(or at worst never actually did sign up for it) signing up for this service. Unsolicited text messages aside, this service insidiously adds a $9.99 recurring montly charge to your mobile phone bill, until you opt out.
As far as I can tell, the vector of infection (I consider this despicable company not so much a service, but more malware/virus upon my mobile phone) was an unsolicited text message that I merely opened. Granted this could just be a symptom, meaning they got my number elsewhere and just texted to inform me that my phone has now been infected with their “service.” It seems you have to reply with a “stop” text message, otherwise the monthly billing persists, despite never actually using the “service.” Such services should only be opt-in, not opt-out.
It took two months to realize this (thanks to auto-billing), but fortunately AT&T refunded both months of charges. I didn’t lose any money, but what a hassle. There was little information about this online, so I thought I would do this service for others similarly afflicted.
16 Comments
I had a similar experience. All of a sudden I received 41 text messages to my phone in a 4 hour period from “Ask Mozoot”. The messages were nonsense telling me to “Ask a Question” or something similar. I sent cancel messages and looked up their customer service and sent emails as well as contacted my service provider Verizon. The texts kept coming for several hours but finally stopped.
The when I saw my phone bill it had 41 charges of $9.99 for premium texts! Verizon claims that they are not able to help because they are just the “middlemen”. Mozoot has “offered” to send a refund in 12 weeks assuming I pay the bill. There is no way I will of course pay the bill so the 12 week refund check won’t work.
Lessons learned:
- If you are not into premium text message services – block them on your phone before you start receiving these scam messages.
- Do not pay the premium message charges – it is also a scam that they service providers say they are “just the middlemen”. They are paid by these scammers and are just as responsible for the scam.
Ask Mozoot and Verizon are scamming and need to be sued to get them to stop.
Same thing happened to me, 1 month got a charge to 9.99, texted the stop, then called att and they refunded the money, next month, nothing, then again this payment period, there it is again. gonna have att permanently block them from my phone…asses
The question is why does AT&T contiinue to work with these thieves, the answer they get a cut. This is a conspiracy to steal.
I want this company sued, anyone interested in filing a class action against AT&T for their collaboration in these thefts.
I just got this on my verizon bill. I was livid since it was added to my netbook so NO text was ever sent to this company. The lady from Verizon was nice and blocked the number so no one can text it and removed the charge from the bill. I told them they need to watch out for these people she said they are putting in a complaint..
Same thing happened to me…on Tmobile….I think it came from a Twitter Direct Message to my cell phone, and all I did was open the txt msg. Its taking 30 days for refund. I have blacklisted ALL 3rd parties from my cell phone. Thanks!
Just got off the phone with AT&T not five minutes ago. Furious. I asked the CSR what my wireless provider is doing to protect me from these absurd subscriptions that I didn’t sign up for. Their answer was to put a purchase blocker in place on the line.
I have texted STOP to the two subscriptions I erroneously had and done the refund process online already.
Is this not theft??? How are they doing this?
same thing here for verizon anyone want to start a lawsuit i am in let me know but no offer of a refund for me
Scamers – Scum of the earth – Same thing here, got scammed for a month. Verizon told me i had accepted their terms and condition at some point. A class action lawsuit does not seem to be a bad idea to stop them. Lesson learned.
Just noticed this in my bill today. Upon checking my texts back a month, I see that they sent me one literally a few days after I got my new phone and changed my plan. It was also the same day Verizon sent me a text about my new phone. How the heck would Mozoot get my number so fast? Only three days? There’s gotta be something going on here. Verizon won’t give me a refund either stating the ‘third-party’ bull. How do we get our money back on this one? I’d never texted or even heard of these guys until they were on the bill. How can that happen? Pissed…
I ahd it happen to my wifes IPhone. I got a merchent block. It appears if you look at there text , or e-mail you have agreed to there term for 9.99 a month.
Same thing happen to me. I was going over my cell phone bill and noticed a misc. charge of $19.98 so, I call up t-mobile and ask them what the hell? They told me I signed up for something called Mozoot Alerts. I watch every penny and, know never to sign-up for anything on-line or other wise. Luckly t-mobile refunded the charge. I asked for a number for this Mozoot whatever, when I called a message came on saying our agents are busy assisting other customers please go to our website and email us then it hung-up on me. If anyone wants to call the number is 866-921-3150, good luck talking to someone. Something needs to be done about this, I suggest to everybody this happens to, call the Federal Trade Commision and file a complaint against Mozoot. The number is 877-382-4357 or you can go to the FTC website and file a complaint on-line.
i just want the shit off my phone and who the hell is mozoot
I am seeing they have attached themselves to my bill too. I NEVER even heard of them. let alone signed up for anything. How do I “opt out” if I don’t know how to contact them??? I am NOT paying a recurring change for something I never purchased! Help!
I thought at&t was a reputable company who would not tolerate this kind of dishonesty. I’ve just noticed the charges from mozoot. I haven’t a clue who these crooks are and what they do. My question is, why is at&t charging me for this???? It’s hard to believe that they would be in on this scam. You would think they would have blocked these guys by now. I’m calling at&t tomorrow.
Thank you so much for posting this.
I’m with TMobile and same thing happened.
ATT was very cooperative and took the consumer’s side. They credited the Mozoot charges $10.69 (w/tax) and advised they would contact Mozoot to terminate their billing. Now that the phone companies have become brokers for 3rd party services they should try to be responsive to their customers. AT&T’s solution, in my case, was to provide a pin authorization to verify text related transactions…Had a similar problem with Verizon and land-line 3rd party charges from some outfit in BlueBell Pa.(no service, no employees to answer the phone but a monthly bill administered by a FCC licensed phone company, Verizon…I Wonder when the FCC will investigate this consumer fraud ?