An investigation by the European Union (EU) into 500 websites offering mobile downloads such as ringtones and games has concluded that more than 80 percent were guilty of “misleading” consumers. “Far too many people are falling victim to costly surprises from mysterious charges, fees and ringtone subscriptions they learn about for the first time when they see their mobile phone bill,” EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told a news conference today, reports Reuters. The report adds that companies such as Jamba, VeriSign, Vodafone, Aspiro and Wiking Mobile must address Kuneva’s concerns or face hefty fines or closure.

Meanwhile, the UK’s premium rate services regulator PhonepayPlus today separately proposed a series of measures designed to protect consumers in the mobile premium content market following a recent review. The regulator said that any mobile subscription service that does not allow customers to stop it easily and quickly would be barred from operation “with immediate effect.” It noted that customer complaints relating to premium mobile content in the past year more than doubled to over 8,000.