Judiciary abandons fight against warning scam: 541 Fr porn subscription left for Schwyz mom

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Maryam Tekle* reportedly enjoys watching porn. On July 16, 2020, a mother of four is said to have requested access to the porn site “pornxhub.cc” on her cell phone at 2:30 am. That’s what Obligo AG claims and has been charging subscription fees ever since. By the way, it amounted to 541 francs.

Fraud has been known for years. The Rigi Klöster-based SZ-based company sends invoices for allegedly completed porn subscriptions – for those affected to pay for it eventually. To avoid fear, embarrassment, or further inconvenience.

Obligo argues that people who come in contact activate free access to porn websites. As stated in the contract terms, this automatically converts to a paid subscription after three days. If you don’t pay, you’ll get higher bills over time.

Call from nowhere

“Observer” and other media have reported on this practice many times. First a “free access”, then the bill. But Obligo continues without shame. Those affected and those seeking help report to the “Observer” counseling center each week. In the last two years, 329 investigations were carried out.

It is not the same for everyone affected. Some report that they actually ended up on a porn site while surfing the web. However, they did not sign up or leave a phone number, but clicked as quickly as possible. Others say they never go to a porn site.

Among them is Meryem Tekle. Coming from Eritrea, she has lived in Switzerland for eight years and has a temporary admitted refugee resident status. Andreas Wieland says that one day, out of the blue, a man calls and asks for his address.

She and her husband have been supporting the refugee woman and her family for years, helping them learn German and look for a job. “Miss Tekle speaks broken German and can converse, but she’s no match for a shrewd communicator. She didn’t know exactly what the man on the phone wanted from her and probably gave him the address she.”

Obligo must provide evidence

Since then, Tekle has been showered with bills. He never paid, as the “Observer” advised everyone affected. Obligo is now threatened with sanctions. F status refugee working as a cleaner is afraid of this. “He fears that a record in the debt enforcement register may prevent him from obtaining a permanent residence permit,” Wieland says.

Still, the “observer” advises you not to pressure yourself and not to pay the bills. Because the law is clear. “Unless the obligation provides clear proof that you have entered into a fee-based contract, you have no debt,” says Nicole Müller of the Observer advice centre. No such contract is yet created when you click on a porn link. You can only accept a paid subscription as binding if the price is above or right next to the order button. Automatic conversions to a paid service hidden in the terms and conditions are not legally binding.

The Observer’s advisory center is not aware of any cases where the obligation initiates a debt enforcement process. If a payment order is actually received, those affected can file a legal appeal within ten days. Andreas Wieland, as a precaution, asked Maryam Tekle to give a power of attorney to conduct all correspondence through him alone. “Despite repeated inquiries, the company ignores this and continues to write to Ms. Tekle, who can barely defend herself,” says the retired engineer.

Obligo speaks of “a refuted alibi”

Obligo did not respond to a request from the “observer”. In a statement to the “Kassensturz” program in mid-May, the company asked themselves the same claims: It’s technically impossible for a person to get an invoice without visiting the porn site and entering their phone number. “The fact that consumers then claim they don’t have subscriptions is as often an excuse as it is disproved.” Generally, it’s just a payment service provider that collects (usually foreign) porn site operators’ bills.

The Schwyz Public Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating Obligo for years on suspicion of unfair competition. However, he decided that the company could not prove that he had committed a crime and dropped the case. The State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (Seco) and the French-speaking Swiss consumer organization FRC appealed against this decision, and the Obligo case was decided by a court “In dubio pro duriore” (“In case of doubt, a prosecution should be”). In September 2022, an indictment was filed. Seco in the proceedings and the FRC, along with the other affected parties, appeared as joint plaintiffs.

Prosecutor gives up, Seco continues

However, the district court acquitted the defendants, who were the two managers of the company, of unfair competition. According to the Blick newspaper, the court’s reasoning was, among other things, that Obligo asked Seco several times during the order process what could have been done better, but got no response.

The prosecutor’s office in Schwyz, which did not even want to carry out the court process, first objected to the decision. After the reasoned decision is ready, he now accepts the decision. Seco and the FRC appealed against the acquittal due to liability. Therefore, the proceedings are pending before the Cantonal Court of Schwyz, even without the responsible prosecutor’s office. The criminal investigation authority no longer conducts an investigation against liability, but directly against foreign porn site operators.

* Name changed

Source :Blick