David’s Tokyo Marathon challenge for hospices

A Prestatyn Man will be flying the flag for North Wales in the Tokyo Marathon – after forgetting he even entered it.

David Ellis, 40, put his name into the ballot last August not expecting to get a place when a surprise message arrived before Christmas telling him he’d won one of only 2,000 places for overseas athletes.

What’s even more remarkable is that David only started running two years ago to get healthier and has even dropped three stone in the process.

David, Assistant Manager at Jackson’s Garden Centre, Trelawnyd said: It was a bit of a surprise really as I’d completely forgotten I’d entered it.

“Luckily I’d been training four times a week and had completed the Chester and Manchester marathons last year, so am actually looking forward to it.”

David will be raising money in sponsorship for local charity Hope House Tŷ Gobaith children’s hospices of whom his employer have been long-time supporters.

“It was through that connection and my support of their shop in Flint that I decided to choose the hospices as my charity.

“I really respect what they do for families in the area and my future races will be for them too.”

David’s number one fan is his 13 year-old son Jayden and they have even adorned their home in the town with Japanese flags.

“Jayden is a great supporter and always comes along to events and training with Prestatyn Running club where I am captain.

“He’s like the club mascot,” said David.

With the Tokyo Marathon being renowned as a fast and flat race, David is hoping for a good time and the expected 12 degree weather will certainly help the 37,000 runners get around easier.

The event takes place on Sunday 3^rd March and David will be flying out to Tokyo on Wednesday 28^th Feb to get set and then see some of Japan’s sights.

If you would like to sponsor David then click here.

The consumer champion has also received five complaints about a company called OriginalPlus, which takes payments via Singapore. The OriginalPlus advert Which? saw features a ‘Click on OPEN’ button which is intentionally designed so it looks like part of different websites.

It makes no mention of a company name, or the service being sold, until consumers click through. Even more sneakily, details about its €29.99 monthly fee were hidden right at the bottom of the web page, visible only when the consumer scrolls down.

• Hijacking QR codes

Which? has heard of scammers placing fake QR code stickers over genuine ones in car parks, shops, hotels and restaurants and sending fake surveys with QR codes in the post to trick people into paying for outrageously expensive subscriptions.

The consumer champion received 10 scam reports about people inadvertently subscribing to a company called Media Craze via QR codes. In every case, people believed they were dealing with known brands (including Iceland, ITVX, Gumtree, Snappy Snaps and Tesco) and had no idea they were handing over their card details to Media Craze, which then charged them £29.99 a month for its entertainment package.

Earlier this month, the Insolvency Service said a winding-up order was made against the company trading as Media Craze at the High Court on 5 December 2023 and investigations are ongoing.

• Free trials

‘Free’ product trials – often for nutrition and beauty products such as ‘keto diet pills’ and ‘CBD gummies’ – are a particularly persistent type of subscription trap that is prevalent on social media platforms.

Typically, people are led to believe that they are authorising a one-off payment or covering postage costs – only to discover they will be charged tens or even hundreds of pounds every month. These fees may be buried in the terms and conditions, although the worst offenders simply lie about their pricing model.

• Premium SMS alerts

Premium SMS alerts provide opportunistic companies with yet another way to make easy money – because they can charge you without asking for your card details. Known as Charge to Bill, this is often used to donate to charity or vote in TV shows using your mobile phone number, but reports to Which? suggest this payment system is being abused.

Two names kept cropping up in the scam reports we received: Alerts4U and Stripey Offers. Registered as separate companies (SB7 Mobile Ltd and Stripey Giraffe Ltd), they use near-identical branding, list the same PO box address and promote shopping discount alerts costing £1.50 per text message, up to a maximum of three alerts a week.

The Which? scam sharer tool has received 11 reports about Alerts4U and nine about Stripey Offers, while Trustpilot users have left hundreds of one-star reviews. In most cases, people told us they had no idea how they had been signed up. A few said they had received unsolicited alerts from Stripey Offers after scanning QR codes in car parks and restaurants and one had received three messages from Alerts4U after attempting to download a supermarket app.

Which? understands that SB7 and Stripey Giraffe require customers to independently verify their intention to complete the subscription process by entering a Pin sent to their phone, but the texts that Which? has seen do not mention the company name or pricing.

The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) currently has an open enforcement investigation into both companies for potential breaches of its code of practice.

• Fake ads on search engines

Which? found dozens of advertisers that were impersonating legitimate parking apps such as JustPark, PayByPhone and RingGo on search engines. These ads claim you can download parking apps but sneakily sign you up for a ‘health and lifestyle bundle’ costing £24.99 a month, the name and supposed service of which is not stated.

Tech firms seem to struggle with the sheer volume of scammers abusing their platforms. Which? saw the same advertisers impersonating RingGo and other parking apps even after Which? had reported them.

The consumer champion also received 13 complaints about a Cyprus-based firm called Alltainment, which claims to offer a video streaming service. People attempting to download a parking app did not realise they were signing up for a package costing £39.99 a month.

Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said:

“Our research suggests ‘scamscriptions’ and payment traps are on the rise – and consumers should be careful of any ads, free trial offers or text messages that look suspicious. If you think you’ve fallen victim to fraud, call your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud or contact Police Scotland.

“To stay up to date with the latest scams making the rounds, consumers can sign up to the Which? scam alert service and get advice about how to protect themselves by visiting www.gov.uk/stopthinkfraud

“However, responsibility should not fall solely on the shoulders of consumers. The government has brought forward some encouraging measures to tackle fraud in recent years, but needs to go much further and ensure that telecom providers and online platforms are verifying the legitimacy of their users to prevent scammers reaching consumers.”