NEWS

Internet virus hiked OTE bills

Thousands of customers of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE), who received massive phone bills after an Internet «dialer» virus connected them to phone sex lines while they were online, will not have to pay for these calls, the state telecoms watchdog said yesterday. The Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) said that it had ordered the company that runs the «901» phone lines – which charge very high rates per minute – to deactivate them all immediately. The regulator has also instructed OTE not to charge its customers for calls made to these numbers by the virus. The EETT issued its decision after receiving thousands of complaints from OTE customers shocked at receiving inflated bills for calls they had not made. Phone customers in other countries have experienced similar problems with dialer viruses hijacking their Internet connections without their knowledge.

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