Micro Bill Systems, also known as MicroBillSys, MBS and Platte Media, is an online collection service with offices in Leeds, England,[1] considered to be malware.[2] The company states that it is a professional billing company offering "software management solutions that can aid your business in reducing uncollectable payments."[3] The company's best-known clients are online gambling and pornography sites offering three-day free trials of their subscription-based services.[2][4] If users do not cancel during the trial period, the MBS software begins a repeating cycle of full-screen pop-up windows warning users that their account is overdue and demanding payment.
The eleven-page MBS end-user license agreement contains a clause stating that unless the bill is paid, the software will disrupt computer use longer each day,[5] with up to four daily periods of 10 minutes when the pop-up payment demand is locked and cannot be closed or minimized.[2] Users have complained about the unexpected bills, feel victimized, and deny ever accessing the video sites they are being billed for.[2] MBS denies installing its software by stealthy means and says that the software is downloaded by consent.[2] Many consumers are unaware that they have agreed to the download.[6]
Security software company Symantec describes MicroBillSys as a potentially unwanted application that uses aggressive billing and collection techniques to demand payment after a three-day trial period, and says that there are reports of these techniques leaving the computer unable to browse the Internet.[7]
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