Beware of streaming websites with a “5 day trial period”!
Our cooperation partner checked4you warned again yesterday (March 26, 2019) about streaming services that lure you into a subscription trap:
Five days free, then it will be expensive. Hundreds of movie streaming services send dubious invoices. Checked4you helps with tips and sample letters.
the essentials in brief
- They advertise alleged free streams of cinema films; interested parties must register for this.
- Attention, subscription trap: The small print states that high fees would be charged after five free days.
- We explain why we think you don't have to pay and give you a sample text with which you can defend yourself.
Why pay for movies when you can get them for free on the internet?! If you start looking for relevant sites with such a plan, you might end up on voxstream. de or one of the other 200+ pages listed at the end of the text. Except for the logo, they all look the same. They entice you with numerous movies that you can supposedly watch legally. But I have to register you first.
The subscription trap
To register, you should provide your name, an email address and a password and then be able to watch films straight away. According to the site operators, by clicking on “Register” you already become a member. The first five days cost nothing, after that you have to pay - if you don't delete your account in time.
It is often the case that the information about the obligation to pay can only be found in the terms of use in English. Then the case is clear: you don't have to pay! You can read the reasons in the box below.
The “Buy” button
We constantly receive complaints from consumer advice centers about these alleged streaming portals. Some consumers report that there was no button that clearly indicated costs. If we then look at the page, there is both a button and a reference to the specific costs.
This raises the suspicion that the operators may install the button solution later or make the pages look different depending on how they are accessed - i.e. depending on whether you accessed them directly or got there via a search engine. Whether this is the case can only be proven with screenshots that you took when registering. But even if the button was there, we can say: you don't necessarily have to pay (see box below)!
Registration is not confirmed
After you have concluded a contract, reputable site operators will send you a confirmation by email in which they list the terms and conditions of the contract. At this point at the latest you should find out that you have to pay money five days after your registration. But no such email comes.
Technical problems
Anyone who wants to start streaming immediately after registering is often stuck. Because instead of the films and series advertised at the beginning, there are often error messages.
Do I have to pay?
Absolutely no! A contract is only validly concluded if there is a clearly labeled button. It shouldn't simply say "Register", but rather it must say "order with payment" or "buy", for example. This is the so-called button solution, as stipulated in Section 312j of the German Civil Code (BGB) for contracts on the Internet.
After you have signed a contract, you should be informed about the conditions again in an email. With almost every contract on the Internet you also have a 14-day right of cancellation. This is explained in more detail in our text about rip-offs on the Internet. The provider must also inform you about your right of withdrawal. If he doesn't do this or doesn't do it correctly, you have one year and 14 days to revoke it.
When streaming, however, you must note that the right of withdrawal can expire as soon as you start streaming for the first time. However, you must expressly agree to this, for example by clicking on a checkbox to confirm that you are waiving your right of withdrawal.
How should I respond to such a payment request?
You should “alternatively revoke” the contract (now it’s legal) and challenge it “due to fraudulent misrepresentation”. This can also be done via email. But you don't have to write the right words alone. You can download a sample letter here .
“Lawyers” on YouTube
The operators of the alleged streaming sites don't just limit themselves to emails with payment requests or debt collection threats. There are even videos on YouTube in which supposed lawyers explain that you definitely have to pay. We can only turn our noses up at these videos too.
For example, there is a certain Michael Plember from a Berlin media law firm who claims that a client has an invoice from felixkino. com contacted him and after checking the website he stated that this invoice had to be paid. By the way, the same man calls himself Thomas Fischer in another video.
His topic is the same: bills from MeinKinoWelt. com supposedly have to be paid. Another man doesn't give his name at all, but also tells the same thing - each tailored to the relevant website. What is noticeable about the clips is that the comment function has usually been deactivated, the YouTube channels used have not existed for long and usually do not have any other videos.
General information about streaming films
If you watch movies for free on the Internet, you can get into trouble. According to a ruling by the European Court of Justice in April 2017 (case number C-527/15), there is a risk when streaming videos if the user has to realize that the films have ended up on the Internet illegally.
And anyone who, for example, discovers a film that has just been shown in the cinema in the free stream should be able to realize that this cannot be in the spirit of the creators and should therefore be prohibited. In the worst case scenario, you will have provided the necessary information for legal action - with your registration.
A case for the investigating authorities
Many users who have fallen into the trap have already complained to consumer advice centers. The complaints were collected by the “Market Watchdog” project of the Rhineland-Palatinate Consumer Center and the findings were passed on to the police and public prosecutor’s office.
Different operators are stated in the legal notice on the different pages. But either the companies mentioned in it don't exist or data from existing companies that have nothing to do with the rip-off are being misused.
If you have discovered the same page with a new Internet address, please report it to the market watchdog Digitale Welt .
These are the domains that matter
The following internet addresses are currently known (as of March 26, 2019). Some may already be switched off again.
Adostream . de, aloflix. de, amostream. de, appleflix. de, araplay. de
B babaflix. de, baflix. de, bayplay. de, begostream. de, bigflix. de, bigostream. de, bigostream. com, binoflix. de, blueflix. de, boboflix. com, bobstream. de, bogoflix. de, bogostream. de, borastream. de, bokuflix. de, bonastream. de, bonostream. de, boxflix. de, braflix. de
C cinemadome. net, cinemaflix. de, cinemaxx24. com, cineplex24. de, coflix. de
D daflix. de, daftstream. de, dasflix. de, dasimax. de, dinoflix. de, dodoflix. com, dodoplay. de, doflix. de, dogostream. de, domstream. de, doxflix. de, drflix. de, duckplay. de
E euroflix. de, evaflix. de
F faceflix. de, faxflix. de, felixkino. com, filmpalast24. com, finflix. de, fixago. de, flex cinema. com, flixabo.de, flixago. de, flixando. de, flixday. de, flixer. de, flixfox. de, flixguru. de, flixhd. de, flixking. de, flix cinema. com, flixland. de, flixman. de, flixme. de, flixmex. de, flixtown, flixtv. de, flixway. de, flixwolf. de, flixwood. de, floplay. de, frogplay. de
G gagastream. de, gigaflix. de, gogostream. de, goldflix. de, goloflix. de, gonaflix. com, gonastream. de, goxflix. de
H hdflix. de, hdtime. de, hdwelt. de, heroflix. de, hogostream. de, hugostream. de
I ibostream. de, imaxcine. com, imaxdome. com, imax films. com, imaxgo. de, imax cinema. com, imaxnet. de, imaxstream. de, imaxtime. com, imaxtv. de, imax world. com, inflix. de
J juhustream. de, justflix. de, justhd. de
K kinobay, kinoflexx. com, kinolox. de, kinopalast24. com, kinoplay. de, kinoplexx. com, cinema room. de, kinowelt24. com, kinoyama. de, cinema time. net, kiwiflix. de
L laflix. de, lexflix. de, lightflix. de, limeflix. de, lionflix. de, liteplay. de, lobostream. de, logflix. de, logostream. de, lolostream. de, lostream. de, loxflix. de, loxostream. de
M magaflix. de, mangoflix. de, matostream. de, maxxflix. de, megaflix. de, my cinema world. com, mexflix. com, mex cinema. com, mexplay. de, mexstream. de, mogostream. de, modoflix. de, momoflix. de, momostream. de, monoflix. de, moodflix. de, moroflix. de, mostream. de, moxplay. de, myflixx. de
N nexostream. de, noxflix. de
Oh obiplay. de, ogoplay. de, olaflix. de, oflilix. de, oneflix. de, orangeflix. de
Ppinoplay . de, plabay. de, playago. de, playamba. de, playano. de, playomo. de, pokuflix. de
R ray play. de, rexflix. de, rex cinema. de, robiflix. de, rostream. de, rotflix. de, roxflix. de
S saflix. de, savaflix. de, segastream. de, sobastream. de, sobostream. de, soflix. de, sogostream. de, soloflix. de, someflix. de, soyaflix. de, streamago. de, streamba. de, streambull. de, streamday. de, streamdome. de, streamex. de, streamflix. de, streamfy. de, streamgogo. de, streamino. de, streamlox. com, streamnox. com, streamogo. de, streamore. de, streamoro. de, streamtime. de, streamtoto. de, streamtox. com, stream time. de
T tapeflix. de, teleflix. de, tideplay. de, tobiflix. de, toflix. de, topflix. de, tostream. de, toxflix. de, tutoflix. de
U unoflix. de
V voxstream. de
W wayplay. de, weflix. de, windflix. de, woplay. de, wowflix. de, wowplay. de
Y yalastream. de, yobaflix. de, yoflix. de, yogostream. de, yostream. de
Z zazaplay. de
# 24flix. de
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )