DIAL UK | Internet Mysteries

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[puddingcupxoxo]

Life long disabled person here...DIAL used to be a registered charity. I have used them in the past (they filled out my disability benefit forms for me long ago) and a good friend used to volunteer for them. She gave financial advice to disabled clients, filled in form for those incapable, etc. A little research shows that they are struggled financially and many DIAL offices have closed down sadly. The one in my town sadly has also and friend lost her job. This isn't some big mystery. It was a very popular service for disabled people all over the UK, so it makes sense its been taken over by scummy companies trying to make money off a popular website. There are still some DIAL offices left but are run independently

[ddmaggtz]

if the charity hasnt done anything about it, i think the likeliest possibility is that they abandoned the domain and someone else scooped up the chance to promote their porn and penis pills. it isnt too far fetched to me that someone would look for abandoned domains from official organizations to promote their services, especially with the potential of the domain having high traffic.

[nuclearkid]

It could be a site that was originally legit but was neglected and didn’t have adequate security, and a hacker or bot altered its content to drive unsuspecting people to adult or scam sites.

[roseredmayne]

Thanks for the upload! God, as a disabled person, this angers me...thanks for spreading awareness.

[angellane]

my jaw is on the floor. thank you for raising awareness, is there any place to report charity scams?

[Pennydeadful]

Dial was around years ago as a community based drop in centre and definitely was a reputable charity, a bit like citizens advice for disabilities. There was an office in my childhood town (Mansfield) about 30 years ago but they closed the office some years later. I’m not even sure what their status is now, especially online but this definitely looks like a hack job for dodgy purposes.

[MandalaBunnyhome]

This kind of incompetence when it comes to websites and cybersecurity is so common and its very concerning that it happens with governments sites. Companies never realize the harm that can be done from not keeping up with cyber security until it's too late.

[darby]

Wow, thank you for bringing attention to this! As someone who has worked in govt, I guarantee an oversight by the NHS web developers is why the faux charity link is on their page. Whoever put the link there probably only did a quick glance at the DIAL page before clearing it.

[gooodels]

something about this makes me feel *deeply* uncomfortable. it's just really uncanny the way it should be so safe and official, it's like the reason they put kids music in horror movies.

[tropezando]

I've been on some poorly managed and abandoned government websites before, but this is definitely a new low.

[JK-gmkk]

There was a Reddit thread on this just a couple days ago. Apparently, the existing organization merged with another similar company, so the company abandoned the site and was theorized it was hacked after this abandonment and placed the nsfw links there, presumably for ad revenue

[EmptyMTYT]

The NHS gave me a link to autismspeaks and a chiropractor of the spooky ghost variety, they really don't look into their resources very well and it likely went through multiple people who all assumed someone else would've checked it

[CharlieQuinn]

I went to a DIAL center a few years ago to get help applying for PIP. I don't live in Donaster and can't remember which site i used at the time but it was nothing like the one in this video (literally just checked the website shown here btw and it's all true!! There's so much porn on there) so I'm really not sure about what's going on but it's weird.
The charity were amazing in helping me, they didn't do an amazing job of filling out the form (which is extremely difficult and requires alot of knowledge about the system) but they were friendly and accommodating.
I really think it's possible that it's being used by a porn site to redirect traffic but it's disgusting that the links haven't been changed and they its still up at all

[fionacraig]

Yea right!!....what on earth?!!

@TheInternetInvestigator
Thank you for highlighting the darker corners some are prone to walking into, but most are not aware of...
Excellent work (as ALWAYS), especially taking action when necessary!
You absolute star ✨

[lizardjr.]

Great video. Hearing you read the description of the P sites with the same seriousness as a missing person case got a good laugh out of me.

[SDM-Zone]

The NHS is entirely on its ass. I wouldn't be surprised if the person processing calls and emails are like 3 months behind. Or hopefully not, just currently unattended to.

[matthewcrome]

This makes me feel so icky, especially as a disabled person (I have autism and mild CP). Of course, we have sexual urges just like anyone else, but we are also prone to manipulation, especially with autism and intellectual disabilities. This seems very predatory and manipulative to me, and all of the sexual stuff feels at worst dangerous/possibly illegal and at best in poor taste. In addition, many disabled people are not prepared for sex without adequate education about sexual health and consent, due to many of us being either sheltered or emotionally/socially unaware. "The talk" evades most of us, unfortunately, making consent a big issue. I would be more comfortable with an adult website designed for disabled people, with appropriate discussion about use of sexual enhancement medications (like Cialis) and sex toys. Or maybe a site that could educate disabled people on issues like safe sex and consent. I've been taken advantage of financially due to my autism and fortunately have never been taken advantage of sexually - I know it must be terrible and that's why understanding consent and potential predatory behavior is so crucial for disabled people.

[gabeangel]

I find this really confusing because I remember Dial from many years ago when it was a telephone helpline and was a legit and helpful service. I used it when I was first applying for disability benefits back then. I got the impression when I used it that it Dial was an overall umbrella that had local branches in various areas because the Dial I was in contact with was based locally to me and the phone line had a local area code (a different part of the country to Doncaster). They gave advice on other disability support as well as benifits, and they were also the organisation which produced the keys that could be used to access any public disabled toilet in the uk (you can now buy the keys from Amazon or eBay instead).

It seems like the organisation wasn't ready for the internet age and how their charity model needed to change with the times, and maybe they weren't able to maintain the site so it has been abandoned and hacked or something. This kind of thing that you are showing certainly isn't what Dial used to be at all. Kind of sad because there is still a great need for some kind of support and advice service like Dial used to provide in the old days. If anything, the need is even greater because it's harder to apply for disability benefits, find out what help you can get and get what you are entitled to, cope with how the system is set up, etc. now.

Also, other sites and organisations really need to update their info if they are still listing an organisation that may not even exist anymore and giving a site that has become so corrupted, as a current rescorce. Really backs up what I said about how hard it is to get support now as a disabled person doesn't it!

[mischiefwargaming]

I checked the site out and WOW those NSFW links are not trying to hide are they? No less than 8 very NSFW links, some with explicit language and logos. There's no way this can be a legit charity.

[feellickspeelix]

I'm disabled and poor, and I can confirm that most charities and social work offices don't check their resource lists. we end up spending hours of our time jumping thru hoops just to come up empty handed. I've had friends show up to a location just to find the office no longer exists. it's really awful and if someone can't advocate for themselves or don't have anyone to help them/do it for them, they fall right thru the cracks.
as odd as this website is I'm not surprised. sounds like a neglected domain that was hacked or someone is just trying to make some money since they know disabled people will end up on the site.

please check up on your disabled friend, loved one, neighbor, or relative. we need all the help we can get. especially in the US where I am.