Billy Mob - Arrests for fraud? - GoFuckYourself.com

Matt-ADX · 03-30-2017, 10:10 AM

Hey, I don't read spanish, but can someone here give a TLDR?

La Guardia Civil registra una empresa de publicidad móvil en Barcelona por estafa

Bladewire · 03-30-2017, 10:20 AM

The Guardia Civil registers a mobile advertising company in Barcelona for scam

The agents of the UCO have seized of abundant documentation in the headquarters of Billy Mobile, in the street Amigó

UAN MANUEL GARCÍA , Barcelona
03/23/2017 17:40 | Updated on 03/29/2017 19:49
The Civil Guard has carried out this morning in Barcelona an operation apparently related to a crime of fraud in mobile telephony . At least four cars of this police force and three other endowments of the Central Operative Unit (UCO), which is responsible for investigating crimes related to crime and organized crime, have accessed an office building located at number 11 of the Amigó street , very close to the confluence with Travessera de Gràcia.

This building, owned by the Colonial real estate, houses the headquarters of several companies. The Guardia Civil is not yet in a position to confirm which of these offices has registered, but could be a company in the telecommunications sector, according to sources La Vanguardia has had access to . In the building there are two companies related to mobile technology: a mobile advertising management company and another company dedicated to online video games and mobile phones. Both companies share at least one of their largest shareholders, but it appears that the investigation would focus only on the first of these companies.

According to sources consulted by La Vanguardia , it would be Billy Mobile , a mobile advertising management company whose business model is based on sending mobile alerts on a massive basis. These messages include " Put your mobile phone to access a job offer " or " Download this free mobile application by putting your phone number ". Once the user offers his mobile number, he is subscribed to subscription services without knowing it or giving his explicit consent. These services can mean significant costs in the mobile bill . The intervention of the UCO could focus on the activity of Billy Mobile in the years 2014 and 2015.

This type of practices that border on legality are known in the industry as the business of premium alerts or premium subscriptions . This is a variation of the Premium SMS business , which for a little more than a decade was very common in the dotcom sector, and in some cases evolved into a type of fraud that affected many mobile phone users.

"Intermediators between advertisers and high traffic pages"
In an interview with La Vanguardia in 2015, Billy Mobile CEO Vicens Martí defined the company's operations as "a media hub" that intermediated advertisers and high-traffic pages in the mobile environment: "Games, dating (Citations) and content pages for adults. " The company takes a commission for this work of intermediation.

The vanguard
Local Barcelona
OPERATION IN PROGRESS
The Guardia Civil registers a mobile advertising company in Barcelona for scam
The agents of the UCO have seized of abundant documentation in the headquarters of Billy Mobile, in the street Amigó
The Guardia Civil registers a mobile advertising company in Barcelona for scam
Two endowments of the Civil Guard in the Travessera de Gràcia of Barcelona (Jesus Sancho)

2

JUAN MANUEL GARCÍA , Barcelona
03/23/2017 17:40 | Updated on 03/29/2017 19:49
The Civil Guard has carried out this morning in Barcelona an operation apparently related to a crime of fraud in mobile telephony . At least four cars of this police force and three other endowments of the Central Operative Unit (UCO), which is responsible for investigating crimes related to crime and organized crime, have accessed an office building located at number 11 of the Amigó street , very close to the confluence with Travessera de Gràcia.

This building, owned by the Colonial real estate, houses the headquarters of several companies. The Guardia Civil is not yet in a position to confirm which of these offices has registered, but could be a company in the telecommunications sector, according to sources La Vanguardia has had access to . In the building there are two companies related to mobile technology: a mobile advertising management company and another company dedicated to online video games and mobile phones. Both companies share at least one of their largest shareholders, but it appears that the investigation would focus only on the first of these companies.

The business of alerts and premium subscriptions
According to sources consulted by La Vanguardia , it would be Billy Mobile , a mobile advertising management company whose business model is based on sending mobile alerts on a massive basis. These messages include " Put your mobile phone to access a job offer " or " Download this free mobile application by putting your phone number ". Once the user offers his mobile number, he is subscribed to subscription services without knowing it or giving his explicit consent. These services can mean significant costs in the mobile bill . The intervention of the UCO could focus on the activity of Billy Mobile in the years 2014 and 2015.

This type of practices that border on legality are known in the industry as the business of premium alerts or premium subscriptions . This is a variation of the Premium SMS business , which for a little more than a decade was very common in the dotcom sector, and in some cases evolved into a type of fraud that affected many mobile phone users.

An armed Civil Guard, in front of the building of calle Amigo, 11 of Barcelona
An armed Civil Guard, in front of the building of Calle Amigo, 11 in Barcelona (Jesús Sancho)
"Intermediators between advertisers and high traffic pages"
In an interview with La Vanguardia in 2015, Billy Mobile CEO Vicens Martí defined the company's operations as "a media hub" that intermediated advertisers and high-traffic pages in the mobile environment: "Games, dating (Citations) and content pages for adults. " The company takes a commission for this work of intermediation.

In the field of mobile advertising these types of businesses are known as affiliate platforms . They are companies that manage offers from third parties and publish them on other websites. According to a connoisseur of the sector consulted by La Vanguardia , the difficulty lies in knowing where the source of these offers, which in many cases include the 'malware' that allows subscribing a mobile number to an additional charging service without the user being Aware of it.

Thus, getting to the source of the alleged scam is very difficult because advertisers include many filters (redirecting from one web to another) so that figuring out the real source of these ads is virtually impossible. "There are many companies that offer the same service as Billy Mobile, several of which operate from Barcelona," insist the sources consulted.

Mobile advertising platforms often conduct pre-qualification studies of these ads before distributing them on other websites, but it is relatively easy to circumvent these controls. For example, changing the destination url at the moment of activating the ad campaign.

Mobile advertising is one of the fastest growing sectors in the last two years. Billy Mobile has achieved a great turnover in this period, both in Spain and abroad. However, telecommunications companies in several countries have cut off their activity after receiving a multitude of complaints from affected users. When this has happened, Billy Mobile has started its activity in another country.

The Guardia Civil has not been able to confirm this information because the operation is under summary secrecy, but to questions of this newspaper has corroborated that this is an operation for alleged fraud in the field of mobile technology. About 13.30 hours, the UCO members who have participated in the registration have left the office that occupied this company with three large boxes filled with documentation and a backpack.

The entrepreneurs who are part of the board of directors are, in addition to Martí, the exlíderes of the web seriesyonkis , David Martínez and Jordi Tamargo , and the financial director Jordi Cid (ex-director of several technology companies and who worked with Vicenç Martí in Vueling) . None of the four have been found on the phone today, except for Martí, who asked for this newspaper has denied being informed of the matter because he was traveling in Las Vegas.

In 2016, Billy Mobile increased its turnover by 87%, to reach 28 million euros. The company announced at the end of last year that 20% of its business came from the Mexico office, which opened in March 2016. The company, which employs 70 people, expected to reach 50 million turnover in 2017, And open office in Singapore next June.

03-30-2017, 10:10 AM	#1
Matt-ADX Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 1,497	Billy Mob - Arrests for fraud? Hey, I don't read spanish, but can someone here give a TLDR? La Guardia Civil registra una empresa de publicidad móvil en Barcelona por estafa

03-30-2017, 10:20 AM	#2
Bladewire StraightBro Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Monarch Beach, CA USA Posts: 56,232	The Guardia Civil registers a mobile advertising company in Barcelona for scam The agents of the UCO have seized of abundant documentation in the headquarters of Billy Mobile, in the street Amigó UAN MANUEL GARCÍA , Barcelona 03/23/2017 17:40 \| Updated on 03/29/2017 19:49 The Civil Guard has carried out this morning in Barcelona an operation apparently related to a crime of fraud in mobile telephony . At least four cars of this police force and three other endowments of the Central Operative Unit (UCO), which is responsible for investigating crimes related to crime and organized crime, have accessed an office building located at number 11 of the Amigó street , very close to the confluence with Travessera de Gràcia. This building, owned by the Colonial real estate, houses the headquarters of several companies. The Guardia Civil is not yet in a position to confirm which of these offices has registered, but could be a company in the telecommunications sector, according to sources La Vanguardia has had access to . In the building there are two companies related to mobile technology: a mobile advertising management company and another company dedicated to online video games and mobile phones. Both companies share at least one of their largest shareholders, but it appears that the investigation would focus only on the first of these companies. According to sources consulted by La Vanguardia , it would be Billy Mobile , a mobile advertising management company whose business model is based on sending mobile alerts on a massive basis. These messages include " Put your mobile phone to access a job offer " or " Download this free mobile application by putting your phone number ". Once the user offers his mobile number, he is subscribed to subscription services without knowing it or giving his explicit consent. These services can mean significant costs in the mobile bill . The intervention of the UCO could focus on the activity of Billy Mobile in the years 2014 and 2015. This type of practices that border on legality are known in the industry as the business of premium alerts or premium subscriptions . This is a variation of the Premium SMS business , which for a little more than a decade was very common in the dotcom sector, and in some cases evolved into a type of fraud that affected many mobile phone users. "Intermediators between advertisers and high traffic pages" In an interview with La Vanguardia in 2015, Billy Mobile CEO Vicens Martí defined the company's operations as "a media hub" that intermediated advertisers and high-traffic pages in the mobile environment: "Games, dating (Citations) and content pages for adults. " The company takes a commission for this work of intermediation. The vanguard Local Barcelona OPERATION IN PROGRESS The Guardia Civil registers a mobile advertising company in Barcelona for scam The agents of the UCO have seized of abundant documentation in the headquarters of Billy Mobile, in the street Amigó The Guardia Civil registers a mobile advertising company in Barcelona for scam Two endowments of the Civil Guard in the Travessera de Gràcia of Barcelona (Jesus Sancho) 2 JUAN MANUEL GARCÍA , Barcelona 03/23/2017 17:40 \| Updated on 03/29/2017 19:49 The Civil Guard has carried out this morning in Barcelona an operation apparently related to a crime of fraud in mobile telephony . At least four cars of this police force and three other endowments of the Central Operative Unit (UCO), which is responsible for investigating crimes related to crime and organized crime, have accessed an office building located at number 11 of the Amigó street , very close to the confluence with Travessera de Gràcia. This building, owned by the Colonial real estate, houses the headquarters of several companies. The Guardia Civil is not yet in a position to confirm which of these offices has registered, but could be a company in the telecommunications sector, according to sources La Vanguardia has had access to . In the building there are two companies related to mobile technology: a mobile advertising management company and another company dedicated to online video games and mobile phones. Both companies share at least one of their largest shareholders, but it appears that the investigation would focus only on the first of these companies. The business of alerts and premium subscriptions According to sources consulted by La Vanguardia , it would be Billy Mobile , a mobile advertising management company whose business model is based on sending mobile alerts on a massive basis. These messages include " Put your mobile phone to access a job offer " or " Download this free mobile application by putting your phone number ". Once the user offers his mobile number, he is subscribed to subscription services without knowing it or giving his explicit consent. These services can mean significant costs in the mobile bill . The intervention of the UCO could focus on the activity of Billy Mobile in the years 2014 and 2015. This type of practices that border on legality are known in the industry as the business of premium alerts or premium subscriptions . This is a variation of the Premium SMS business , which for a little more than a decade was very common in the dotcom sector, and in some cases evolved into a type of fraud that affected many mobile phone users. An armed Civil Guard, in front of the building of calle Amigo, 11 of Barcelona An armed Civil Guard, in front of the building of Calle Amigo, 11 in Barcelona (Jesús Sancho) "Intermediators between advertisers and high traffic pages" In an interview with La Vanguardia in 2015, Billy Mobile CEO Vicens Martí defined the company's operations as "a media hub" that intermediated advertisers and high-traffic pages in the mobile environment: "Games, dating (Citations) and content pages for adults. " The company takes a commission for this work of intermediation. In the field of mobile advertising these types of businesses are known as affiliate platforms . They are companies that manage offers from third parties and publish them on other websites. According to a connoisseur of the sector consulted by La Vanguardia , the difficulty lies in knowing where the source of these offers, which in many cases include the 'malware' that allows subscribing a mobile number to an additional charging service without the user being Aware of it. Thus, getting to the source of the alleged scam is very difficult because advertisers include many filters (redirecting from one web to another) so that figuring out the real source of these ads is virtually impossible. "There are many companies that offer the same service as Billy Mobile, several of which operate from Barcelona," insist the sources consulted. Mobile advertising platforms often conduct pre-qualification studies of these ads before distributing them on other websites, but it is relatively easy to circumvent these controls. For example, changing the destination url at the moment of activating the ad campaign. Mobile advertising is one of the fastest growing sectors in the last two years. Billy Mobile has achieved a great turnover in this period, both in Spain and abroad. However, telecommunications companies in several countries have cut off their activity after receiving a multitude of complaints from affected users. When this has happened, Billy Mobile has started its activity in another country. The Guardia Civil has not been able to confirm this information because the operation is under summary secrecy, but to questions of this newspaper has corroborated that this is an operation for alleged fraud in the field of mobile technology. About 13.30 hours, the UCO members who have participated in the registration have left the office that occupied this company with three large boxes filled with documentation and a backpack. The entrepreneurs who are part of the board of directors are, in addition to Martí, the exlíderes of the web seriesyonkis , David Martínez and Jordi Tamargo , and the financial director Jordi Cid (ex-director of several technology companies and who worked with Vicenç Martí in Vueling) . None of the four have been found on the phone today, except for Martí, who asked for this newspaper has denied being informed of the matter because he was traveling in Las Vegas. In 2016, Billy Mobile increased its turnover by 87%, to reach 28 million euros. The company announced at the end of last year that 20% of its business came from the Mexico office, which opened in March 2016. The company, which employs 70 people, expected to reach 50 million turnover in 2017, And open office in Singapore next June.