Mobile phone cheats in York and North Yorkshire are paying up to £100 to get free calls forever - then finding they have been ripped off, the Evening Press can reveal today.

Customers in York pubs are being approached by conmen offering them a 12-digit code to type into their Nokia phones which will allow them to get unlimited free calls.

When typed into the phone the message "Sim clock stop allowed" appears, which gullible punters believe will stop their inclusive minutes being used up, thus giving them free calls.

The Evening Press has managed to obtain the 12-digit number and can reveal that it does not give the user free calls.

A spokesman for Orange said: "We are aware of reports of a 12-digit code being offered to users of mobile phones, which it is claimed will allow the user to make free calls.

"The code does not allow the user to make free calls, and there have been no instances recorded on the Orange network of this occurring.

"Orange investigates all such incidents fully, and is confident that this activity does not present a security issue to customers on the Orange network."

One victim of the scam, who paid £50 for his copy of the code, admitted that he "felt a bit of a mug" after finding out that it did not work.

He told the Evening Press that it was his "own fault" for trying to "beat the system".

Colin Rumford, head of trading standards and regulatory services with City of York Council, said: "This is clearly a dishonest practice by both parties.

"The perpetrator of this scam is trying to prey on other people's greed.

"Anyone who is approached by a would-be seller should immediately contact trading standards officers or the police."

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