United Payment Limited [merged]

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andyfraser

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Jun 29, 2009
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Hey guys, i got sent a link to this website, it was a young girl talking in the video saying she was going to get naked.

Then i saw a bit where it says friends login here, so i put in my email and d/o/b ( fake d/o/b ) and then i got a login to the website.

Few hours later they sent me an invoice for 59 euro i was like wtf :\

I dont even have a copy of the original email but after reading it i sent them this reply:

Hey im emailing about an invoice i got off your website regarding a 59 euro charge.

Well let me say for a start i didnt order **** all, Therfore you will be recieveing absolute NOTHING off me. Don't you think i've seen your company on german tv on youtube? Scamming basturts.

Considering i dont even live in Germany good luck trying to find me, probs cost you a lot more launching a legal case anyway so whats the point? Add that to the fact that my Uncle is part of the PROCURATOR FISCAL company.

Good luck trying to get any money off of me, I dont even think you should waste your time emailing me back cause at the end of the day youre going to get **** all.

P.S. you may aswell just cancel that login to your scamming site, since i havent and wont ever use it.

Gooday.
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The company then replied

Medium risk Attachments, pictures, and links in this message have been blocked for your safety. Show content
Re: ‏
From: United Payment Limited ([email protected])
Medium riskYou may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as junk
Sent: 29 June 2009 13:53:45
To: andyfra************

Dear Customer,

If you did not use our services then please disregard this correspondence.

Because our erotic services have often been misused recently, we have no choice in such matters (as in your case) but to file criminal charges with the public prosecutor's office in Potsdam.

We are more than happy to make such an effort, and in fact have done so against several of our customers who have abused our services, and are no longer willing to tolerate such behaviour. .

Should we discover in the course of the criminal investigation that you are indeed the user of the above mentioned IP address 86.*******, provider: *.****.cable.*********.com.
, then you have to expect consequences under criminal law.

In an attempt to identify the owner of the connection, the following data will be conveyed to the public prosecutor's office

Server documentation protocol:
Your email address: andyfra**********
Email provider: *.****.cable.*********.com.

Date of registration: 27.06.2009 02:10:16 time
IP number: 86.*******



With the aid of the prosecutor’s office we will also request a copy of all relevant connection detail records from your mail provider *.****.cable.*********.com.
that contain information related to email transfer, such as name of sender, email address and the time when emails were sent or received.

We will invoice you for all the expenses we incurred from such.


We hereby offer you a last opportunity to make payment.

Should the invoice amount not be credited to our account within 7 days from today, then we will be forced to file a criminal complaint.
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So guys what do you think? Would they genuinely follow up all this, talk to a different government and contact another police force from a different company all for 59 euros?

Thanks in advance guys.
 
What kind of invoice was it? Just e-mailed (or snail mailed)? If so, delete/ignore it and treat any follow-ups the same way. They're just trying to scare people into paying them. They can't do anything to you other than send you e-mails or complain to your internet service provider (very unlikely). They could sue you to try to collect the 59 euros or refer it to a collection agency, but they won't.

If it went on your credit card, call your credit card issuer and dispute the charges. Say that the company did not deliver what it said it would for 59 euros, or that the company never indicated your credit card would be charged 59 euros and you never agreed to pay them that amount.
 
^ +1

We saw the same thing happen from a German server a while back. It's just a trick, don't fall for it.
 
Yeah it was just an email invoice and they were wanting me to send them 59 euro to their bank account or via paypal.
 
Johnny1 said:
What kind of invoice was it? Just e-mailed (or snail mailed)? If so, delete/ignore it and treat any follow-ups the same way. They're just trying to scare people into paying them. They can't do anything to you other than send you e-mails or complain to your internet service provider (very unlikely). They could sue you to try to collect the 59 euros or refer it to a collection agency, but they won't.

If it went on your credit card, call your credit card issuer and dispute the charges. Say that the company did not deliver what it said it would for 59 euros, or that the company never indicated your credit card would be charged 59 euros and you never agreed to pay them that amount.
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I have the exactly same problem with exactly same site and pretty much exactly same story :!
So they could sue me? But why shouldent they? I think i "registered" accidentaly twice also, so they want 2x 59 euros from me, got the same e-mail, but twice.
I deleted that e-mail account and gonna ignore them, but if they can acctualy sue me then... holy crap lol.
Im not from germany also and underage so, how do they expect me to pay. 8)
 
I have the same problem with the same site.
So they could acctualy sue me? I might had accidentaly registered twice, cos they send the notification twice to my e-mail, so i got the same letter twice.
So overall they want 108 euros from me, what is absurd, cos i never even logged back on the site. I deleted the mail account, maybe if the see that i dont get the e-mails theyll give up.
Im not from germany and underage, so how could they get the money off of me.

Also i watched some videos on youtube where people say that police turned up and took theyr PC away and something like that.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsMWiGzF3AY
I really dont understand german so i used google translator.
 
The police will show up and take someone's computer if they think it's being used to commit a crime, such as hacking/piracy, child pornography, etc. But unless this website has child porn, no matter what you did there as long as it wasn't using someone else's credit card number or some other obvious crime, that's between you and the website. It's not in the criminal arena, it's in the civil arena. If they believe you agreed to pay them and you didn't in fact pay them, they can take you to court to try to collect their money. But they will not take you to court for 59 euros. And your computer won't be confiscated over this if you're not committing a crime with it.
 
Johnny1 said:
The police will show up and take someone's computer if they think it's being used to commit a crime, such as hacking/piracy, child pornography, etc. But unless this website has child porn, no matter what you did there as long as it wasn't using someone else's credit card number or some other obvious crime, that's between you and the website. It's not in the criminal arena, it's in the civil arena. If they believe you agreed to pay them and you didn't in fact pay them, they can take you to court to try to collect their money. But they will not take you to court for 59 euros. And your computer won't be confiscated over this if you're not committing a crime with it.
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well its 108 euros for me.... but will it be recorded somewhere? so in future it could do any trouble?
and is it leagal what they are doing? Like i didnt use any credit card there, only entered e-mail and fake date of birth, so they can track me down and identify me? even tho the e-mail account is deleted and ask money for that?
Well i hope for the best, or maybe i should contact them and pay the money so i wouldent get in trouble, it would really suck when it would affect my future career.

Sorry for my bad english.
 
^ Again, it's a trick they're using to try to scare you into sending them money. Just ignore it and stop worrying.
 
I mailed them back abuse, telling them basically their getting **** all and i havent had a reply since.

I wouldnt worry about it mate, they aint gonna attempt to contact foreign authorties over 59 euro or even 108.

Just email them back telling them to stfu
 
tobala said:
^ Again, it's a trick they're using to try to scare you into sending them money. Just ignore it and stop worrying.
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theyre doing a fantastic job then, cos im really scared lol :D
Well... thanks for ur help guys, ill try not to think about it.
 
Well, 'nother one here with exact same "problem". I just want to confirm what's already been said; don't pay them.

s2roX said:
I have the same problem with the same site.
Also i watched some videos on youtube where people say that police turned up and took theyr PC away and something like that.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsMWiGzF3AY
I really dont understand german so i used google translator.
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This video has been mirrored on two other accounts. One of them is Franki86383.
[Here]'s a link to his google-translated userpage. Read the comments.
I'll sum it up; this is another layer of United Payment LTD's scare tactics.

If you want to read up more; here's a thread on a German board giving elaborate reasons why not to pay and just ignore the emails. [link]
 
So the facts are these:

The site asked you for an email address, and DOB, to log in. The site never asked you to agree to a fee or payment for services. You then proceeded to provide an email address and DOB.

Sometime later, you received an invoice, with which you expressed disagreement. The company then threatened to file a criminal complaint.

I have to agree with my newly shaven colleague, Mr. Neuman. This is a scam.

I suspect that if you look at the email's headers, you will find the originating IP address to be a bit of a surprise. I would bet that someone is using a legitimate company's name without their consent. In fact, if the moderators here have no objections, perhaps you could post their email here, excising any information that personally identifies you (include the full header of the email--removing your own IP address--as well).

If you really have further doubts, look up the company's name to see if it has any legitimate offices, and then call the office while blocking your number. They will be quite interested to learn that someone is using their name to further such a scam, and the company will have no qualms about taking legal action.

You should also consider reporting the email to any of the various agencies responsible for policing this type of scam, both within your own country, and perhaps with the agency responsible in the originating country as well.
 
I wouldn't be so sure. For 108 euros, a collection agency could very well be used, and they'll still profit off of it.

This is international though, so it may be more expensive. Is anyone actually sure about the law regarding this? I mean, this is EU UK-Germany international stuff, so the law could be very different. I also don't know how credit bureaus work there, but it's quite possible that they can report you to the credit bureau and this will be on your credit report.

Also, being underage, you may have committed a crime by misrepresenting your age to gain access. And, also, being underage, the site may have committed a crime by providing access to a minor and not having proper safeguards in place. Most places simply require a CC# to prove you're 18, but that's hardly definitive or really even indicative of age anymore.

You may have committed fraud, possibly a felony, in accessing the site, so it may very well be a criminal matter.
 
^ Of course, all that is only after "they" prove it was "you" behind "mom's" computer. ;)
 
Heuristic said:
So the facts are these:

The site asked you for an email address, and DOB, to log in. The site never asked you to agree to a fee or payment for services. You then proceeded to provide an email address and DOB.

Sometime later, you received an invoice, with which you expressed disagreement. The company then threatened to file a criminal complaint.

I have to agree with my newly shaven colleague, Mr. Neuman. This is a scam.

I suspect that if you look at the email's headers, you will find the originating IP address to be a bit of a surprise. I would bet that someone is using a legitimate company's name without their consent. In fact, if the moderators here have no objections, perhaps you could post their email here, excising any information that personally identifies you (include the full header of the email--removing your own IP address--as well).

If you really have further doubts, look up the company's name to see if it has any legitimate offices, and then call the office while blocking your number. They will be quite interested to learn that someone is using their name to further such a scam, and the company will have no qualms about taking legal action.

You should also consider reporting the email to any of the various agencies responsible for policing this type of scam, both within your own country, and perhaps with the agency responsible in the originating country as well.
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They dont tell you that you are signing up for a login that costs 59 euros but up the top right of the page ( www.vivis-homepage.com ) it says it costs 59 euro and also you have to tick Terms and Conditions box which also states that you have to pay 59 euro, so now im not so sure.

Still cant see them contacting a foreign Procurator Fiscal over 59 euro. This website has also been on the germans equivilent of BBC program "watchdog" although at the time it was under a different domain, but the layout and everything was the same.

Just have to wait and see what happens.
 
It may or may not be a valid agreement or sale. Regardless, their threats to refer the matter for "criminal prosecution" strike me as ridiculous at the very least, and, in the United States at least, possibly illegal as well.

You can simply stop responding their attempts. Or, you can write them back a politely worded email to the effect that

i) you dispute the validity of the invoice (don't state why; just state that you dispute the validity),
ii) if they continue making such threats you will have to notify (fill in the blank... whatever consumer protection agencies there are in the UK and Germany, legal authorities in the UK and Germany, etc.,), as this behavior strikes you as being of dubious ethical and legal validity,
iii) if they persist on their current course, you may file a suit in the UK against them for a variety of possible abuses, with the goal of recovering damages, attorney-fees, and costs; note to them that the British courts can be notoriously time-consuming and costly, but that you are quite willing to endure it all for an eventual just recovery (mind you, you are not directly telling them that they will suffer the cost and time of defending such a suit; you are simply noting the general reputation of the British courts, and your own willingness to endure the cost and time; they can infer the rest on their own).

They will likely respond with more threats of the same, which you should then probably ignore.
 
Hammilton said:
I wouldn't be so sure. For 108 euros, a collection agency could very well be used, and they'll still profit off of it.

This is international though, so it may be more expensive. Is anyone actually sure about the law regarding this? I mean, this is EU UK-Germany international stuff, so the law could be very different. I also don't know how credit bureaus work there, but it's quite possible that they can report you to the credit bureau and this will be on your credit report.

Also, being underage, you may have committed a crime by misrepresenting your age to gain access. And, also, being underage, the site may have committed a crime by providing access to a minor and not having proper safeguards in place. Most places simply require a CC# to prove you're 18, but that's hardly definitive or really even indicative of age anymore.

You may have committed fraud, possibly a felony, in accessing the site, so it may very well be a criminal matter.
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Well most of people saying that i should ignore it... and i already deleted my e-mail account so they cant send me no letters anymore... and how can they report me to credit report if they dont know my name, address or anything?
Its basicly impossible to identify me cos anyone could have been using the computer, so how theyr gonna charge me? they just guess it was me?
 
I got the same exact thing in the email. I am really curious if this is acceptable or not. It is like $72 in USD.
 
s2roX said:
well its 108 euros for me....
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Actually, 2 x 59 = 118 :)

but will it be recorded somewhere? so in future it could do any trouble?
and is it leagal what they are doing? Like i didnt use any credit card there, only entered e-mail and fake date of birth, so they can track me down and identify me?
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Will what be recorded? An email address and false DOB? Who cares? Even if you used a legitimate email with all your correct information, how could it ever be proven that it was actually YOU who entered that info?

And no, it's not legal. Or at least I hope not. I don't know what country you live in, but fraud/extortion is illegal pretty much everywhere in the civilized world.

Sorry for my bad english.
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Your English is very good. Work on your math, though. ;)

Seriously, it's a scam. Don't worry. And always use an email account with false information for even slightly nefarious activities.
 
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