Why we're here:
This blog is to highlight the unjust persecution of legitimate non-TV users at the hands of TV Licensing. These people do not require a licence and are entitled to live without the unnecessary stress and inconvenience caused by TV Licensing's correspondence and employees.

If you use equipment to receive live broadcast TV programmes, or to watch or download BBC on-demand programmes via the iPlayer, then the law requires you to have a TV licence and we encourage you to buy one.

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Saturday 27 September 2014

Caution: TVLicence.co.uk


A new website has appeared that claims to show people how to save the cost of the annual TV licence fee.

The site, tvlicence.co.uk, which we won't be linking to, states the following: "This is (sic) website is 100% dedicated to keeping you from the requirement to have a TV licence. The document we are selling details the specific ways you can still watch your favourite programs (sic) and save the £145.50 yearly fee!"

Did you spot the key word? Even if you didn't the flamboyant spelling, combined with a mobile contact number, should be setting alarm bells ringing.

It appears the people behind this website are selling an ebook that explains how to cancel the TV licence. The book, which might even be cannibalised from our own, can be yours for the princely sum of only £25.

You heard right: £25 for information that is freely available on this blog, plus a range of other places, totally free of charge. It doesn't matter how well (or not) their book is written, it's difficult to imagine how anyone could justify charging such a exorbitant fee.

As if being stung for £25 isn't painful enough, the website's privacy policy says that unsuspecting users might be asked to provide the following information:
  • Your name.
  • Your TV licence number or membership number for cash payment schemes.
  • Your postal address(es).
  • Your telephone number.
  • Information about whether or not you use a TV at an address.
  • Your National Insurance number (if applying for a free over 75 licence).
  • Other contact details such as an email address.
Suffice to say we do not encourage anyone to use a service that sells information freely available elsewhere on the web. Please do your own research and avoid paying through the nose.

If anyone wants any advice on cancelling their TV licence they can read our earlier post on the subject or download TV Licensing Laid Bare - the original and best FREE TV Licensing ebook.

Edit (3/10/14): Reviewing this suspect website this evening, we find that it has been removed and replaced with an "under construction" message. Perhaps the owner has a guilty conscience?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

there is little in this world that pisses me off more than people wanting to make money from other people, but pretending your are doing them a favor, i will be making a video regarding these scumbags and try to find out who is behind it.

Admin said...

Thanks for your comment Steven.

Please note that we have to approve comments individually - that's why the don't appear immediately.

Anonymous said...

NO PROBLEM, the guy has just removed the phone number and the address from the website, lucky i made the video before he did:-)
also done a check on who owns the website, just uploading it now, it will be on youtube, steveno`man, thebag people ,steven isback with in the hour.

Anonymous said...

i just rang him , when i asked about the website he said i had the wrong number i started to read out the number and he put the phone down.

Unknown said...

Here is the info from a whois report on the domain:
Queried whois.nic.uk with "tvlicence.co.uk"...

Domain name:
tvlicence.co.uk

Registrant:
Identity Protect Limited

Registrant type:
UK Limited Company, (Company number: 7407280)

Registrant's address:
PO Box 795
Godalming
Surrey
GU7 9GA
United Kingdom

Data validation:
Registrant contact details validated by Nominet on 07-May-2014

Registrar:
Webfusion Ltd t/a 123-reg [Tag = 123-REG]
URL: http://www.123-reg.co.uk

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 10-Jun-1999
Expiry date: 10-Jun-2015
Last updated: 15-Sep-2014

Registration status:
Registered until expiry date.

Name servers:
ns153.securenet-server.net
ns154.securenet-server.net

WHOIS lookup made at 14:11:36 28-Sep-2014
Network Whois record

Whois query for 68.171.223.179 failed: TimedOut

Queried whois.arin.net with "n 68.171.223.179"...

NetRange: 68.171.208.0 - 68.171.223.255
CIDR: 68.171.208.0/20
OriginAS: AS36444, AS2828
NetName: ACENETMI
NetHandle: NET-68-171-208-0-1
Parent: NET-68-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
RegDate: 2009-02-26
Updated: 2012-03-02
Ref: http://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-68-171-208-0-1

OrgName: ACENET, INC.
OrgId: ACENE
Address: 24445 Northwestern Highway Ste 225
City: Southfield
StateProv: MI
PostalCode: 48075
Country: US
RegDate: 2007-05-14
Updated: 2014-05-06
Comment: http://acenet-inc.net
Ref: http://whois.arin.net/rest/org/ACENE

ReferralServer: rwhois://rwhois.acenet-inc.net:4321

OrgNOCHandle: NOC2570-ARIN
OrgNOCName: Network Operations Center
OrgNOCPhone: +1-248-327-4331
OrgNOCEmail: noc@acenet-inc.net
OrgNOCRef: http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/NOC2570-ARIN

OrgAbuseHandle: ACENE-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: ACENET ABUSE
OrgAbusePhone: +1-248-327-4331
OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@acenet-inc.net
OrgAbuseRef: http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/ACENE-ARIN

OrgTechHandle: ACENE1-ARIN
OrgTechName: ACENET ENGINEERING
OrgTechPhone: +1-248-327-4331
OrgTechEmail: engineering@acenet-inc.net
OrgTechRef: http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/ACENE1-ARIN

RAbuseHandle: ACENE-ARIN
RAbuseName: ACENET ABUSE
RAbusePhone: +1-248-327-4331
RAbuseEmail: abuse@acenet-inc.net
RAbuseRef: http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/ACENE-ARIN

RTechHandle: ACENE1-ARIN
RTechName: ACENET ENGINEERING
RTechPhone: +1-248-327-4331
RTechEmail: engineering@acenet-inc.net
RTechRef: http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/ACENE1-ARIN

RNOCHandle: NOC2570-ARIN
RNOCName: Network Operations Center
RNOCPhone: +1-248-327-4331
RNOCEmail: noc@acenet-inc.net
RNOCRef: http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/NOC2570-ARIN

Admin said...

The guy behind the TVLicence.co.uk is sounding more and more like a shyster!

Anonymous said...

This network server looks bit like a typical Linux running server.

The Geo IP I recieved from looking up the IP address is here.

http://www.geoiptool.com/en/?IP=68.171.223.179

Its output is here

Host Name: tvlicence.co.uk
IP Address: 68.171.223.179
Country: United States united states
Country code: US (USA)
Region: Michigan
City: Southfield
Postal code: 48075
Calling code: +1
Longitude: -83.2307
Latitude: 42.465

As the Server is appears to be in america. I did not use the site the user used above its strange how I got USA with this one.

Anonymous said...

THE MORE I LOOK IN TO THIS, IT LOOKS LIKE THE GUY HAS COPY AND PAISTED THE HOLE OF THE TERMS AN CONDITIONS FROM THE TV LICENSING WEBSITE, AND HE WILL PROBABLY SENT THE LINK TO YOUR FREE EBOOK IF YOU GIVE HIM £25.00,
also in the opening page he has a quote about incorrectly filling in passport application, this guy is a chancer hoping to pocket some money, i have heard that his mobile number has been added to all the cold caller sites on the inter net, and the accident claim sits and the text competition sites, but as i didnt do it, i cant say fro deffo but i am 99.9% sure :-)

Vinnie said...

Reverse Phone Numbers give this information.
The Person's phone number could been used by some asswipe.


Country: United Kingdom
Date/time: 28th of September 2014
Prefix: 07756
Type of number: Mobile phone number
Mobile network operator: O2

Anonymous said...

well produced scam website looks very convincing,
some preople are def going to be takein in by it and ripped off

Unknown said...

That's what makes his site even more puzzling. What is his doing/offering, a way to get around paying for a TV licence or helping you apply for one?! It looks like whatever he was trying to do, his OCD kicked in and he went crazy. Who knows?! Whatever happens, I hope no one falls for his little scheme. The things people do for money these days.