There are 33 people, including former executives of major telephone companies such as WindTre and Vodafone, who risk being prosecuted for a € 99 million scam against customers.

Thousands of people scammed , who have been withdrawn amounts for paid services such as games, ringtones and horoscopes without having given consent.

The Milan Public Prosecutor's Office has closed the investigations, the notice of conclusion signed by the prosecutor Francesco Cajani and by the adjunct Eugenio Fisco is in the process of being notified and concerns 33 people, including former managers of telephone companies .

The allegations are computer fraud with theft and consequent improper use of digital identity and attempted contractual extortion.

There is talk of an "average of 30/40 thousand" undue "activations per day" , in the spring of 2020, of "premium services, so-called Vas" for "unsuspecting consumers who were charged the related costs equal to 5 euros per week".

A "system" that, explains the Public Prosecutor's Office, would go on " from 2017 until June 2020 " to the detriment of consumers and unmasked by the investigations of the Postal Police, of the special privacy protection and telematic fraud unit of the Gdf, of the economic police unit financial report of the Milan Gdf and the IT Crimes Team of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

In addition to the telephone operator at the center of this survey, namely Windtre (the company is not investigated), 26 "content service provider" companies, or "Vas content providers", were identified.

When the investigation became known in the summer of 2020, the activations were then reset to zero. The documents of the investigation were also sent to Agcom some time ago, which intervened with a resolution on January 14, 2021 "effectively regulating" the "Vas services" market. And so, explains the prosecutor, "the phenomenon ascertained by the investigation has currently disappeared".

(Unioneonline / L)

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