Our headline, which resonated with the national agenda with the headline “The harassment number is 850”, prompted the authorities to take action. We announced that the calls made from 0 850 numbers under the name of advertisement both violate the Personal Data Protection Law and are actually a fraud system.
After the news we made, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) prepared a report and submitted it to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, following the complaints sent to the Consumer Committees from all over Turkey.
However, in the report, BTK revealed the conclusion that "it cannot be said to be used for fraudulent purposes" for the lines with 0850, and stated that administrative sanctions were also imposed against the violation of personal data.
Although we do not accept the report submitted by the BTK to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, we see the fact that the issue has been put under investigation as a step taken to prevent the number 0850, which annoys the consumer.
Consumer Confederation President Aydın Ağaoğlu made important statements to our newspaper regarding the investigation initiated for numbers starting with 0 850.
“NO ONE HAS THE PATIENCE WITH THESE 0850 NUMBERS”
Aydın Ağaoğlu, President of the Consumer Confederation, said that the lines with 0850 had stimulated confidence in consumers in the past.
"In order to use 0 850 lines, it is necessary to be a licensed company in the telecommunication sector. Licensees can give it to sub-companies and individuals. As a matter of fact, numbers with 0 850 are not a number that anyone can buy. These numbers have become harassment calls for a while. Consumers got fed up and started to block these numbers, but they could not prevent it. There is a breach of personal data here. Authorities such as the Ministry of Customs and Trade had to impose sanctions on these calls, most of which were for advertising purposes. However, at this point, nobody has the patience for these 0 850 numbers anymore," he said.
“WE WISH THE REPORT TO BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SOLVE THE ISSUE FROM THE ROOT”
Aydın Ağaoğlu underlined that 0 850 numbers are used for fraud.
"Those who use these numbers properly do not bother the consumer anyway. However, we all know that many of the calls and messages from harassing 0 850 numbers are for advertising purposes and are actually traps of fraudsters. There are legal regulations regarding these harassment numbers, but when the consumer did not use their right to complain, no one took issue with the issue. There is a website for unsolicited commercial messages within the ministry just for this purpose. There are also complaints made here. Public authorities have serious regulations here, but there is no oversight. Now, we hope that this report prepared by the BTK will be an opportunity for the solution of the issue from the root," he added.