Stop Spam Texts Discussion Area
Comments
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this marketing industry and its people are delusional if they believe that many members of the public want these pests to contact them.
the ICO and OFCOM should be more proactive in policing this 'industry'0 -
Texts from 09** numbers are not covered in the article. Might be worth trying this method as you can't reply to a 09** number.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=32963360 -
Mobile_Professional wrote: »
As a professional within the mobile marketing industry. I would like to make things clear to both consumers and companies reporting on an industry to which they are not being clear.
Mobile Marketing via SMS is an effective way for business to contact consumers either for third party marketing offers or with information such as appointment reminders etc.
A company can contact you with third party marketing messages if they have prior consent, (opt-in), this may have been through lifestyle questionnaires, product registration documents etc, however consumers should always check the privacy policy and terms and conditions regarding the passing of their data to third party companies.
You the Consumer must have provided your details within the past 6 months, in line with the Electronic Communications Act 2003, and the DMA Code of Practice, and OFT Guidelines.
@Mobile Professional,
You make it clear that you are involved within the industry and your post looks at our problem with Unsolicited Premium Rate Texts and Spam as OUR problem. You reflect your industries odd view that WE the mobile phone users are at fault.
Quote: Mobile Marketing via SMS is an effective way for business to contact consumers either for third party marketing offers.
A company can contact you with third party marketing messages if they have prior consent, (opt-in), this may have been through lifestyle questionnaires, product registration documents etc, however consumers should always check the privacy policy and terms and conditions regarding the passing of their data to third party companies.
Not everyone wants spam messages day in and day out. Yes there is the 'Opt Out' but from my own experience this is well hidden within the very, very, small print. If this option was made clearer, as it should be, then companes like yourself would lose many links, so it is a benefit to you that the Opt Out is well hidden. There are too many content providers that ignore the Opt Out and Stop message, are there not?
Quote: Electronic Communications Act 2003
I don't need to tell you how ineffective the Regulatory bodies are, Phone Pay Plus, OFCOM and the ICO. From my own experience being a victim of mobile phone scam I found these bodies a total waste of time, totally uninterested which also seems to be the opinion of many that have posted on this and other forums. This favours those content providers who steal money from our accounts.
You may or may not represent a company that works within the framework of the rules and regulations set out for your industry, we are not to know, but your industry seems to be outside the law. I was told by a D/I from the City of London Police that your industry operates within a grey area of the law. For the police to act they must be asked by one of the above bodies and cannot act from a complaint by an individual like myself. I have yet to find one case where PP+ has asked for a case to be investigated from a complaint by an individual. Could it be due to how PP+ is set up? The law must change to protect the consumer.
Quote:I understand that the article was written with some mis-guided information, they think everyone is causing consumer harm, instead of educating the consumer. There are companies out there that have been using illegal practices to send bulk sms messages which look like coming from a typical mobile number, products like SMS Caster which enable you to put a sim card into a computer. but there are 1,000's of reputable companies which use reputable network connections which routes include long numbers.
I find it arrogant that you think you are 'educating the consumer', so much so that you do not realise how much harm spam and scam texts are causing your industry. Whether they are sent by short codes or normal mobile numbers there is no difference for us, money is stolen from our account.
Yes I agree that there are 1000's of reputable companies but it is the cowboys that give your industry a bad name. Do you not think those 'reputable' companies should act to clean up it's own industry as the regulatory bodies do nothing.
WE the mobile phone user should have a choice when we sign up with a network whether or not we want to receive 'short codes' or 'adverts'. Only T-Mobile actively make it clear to bar short codes. Vodafone offer the service but try to find any mention of this service on their web site or an advisor that knows about it!
:beer:0 -
I've never had a spam txt and am feeling left out.
I wouldn't dream of giving my mobile number to anyone other than friends, colleagues, or work contacts. Very occasionally, possibly a company where it's definitely in my interest, say an airline or courier delivery company.
I think with SPAM, you reap what you sow.Apparently I'm 10 years old on MSE. Happy birthday to me...etc0 -
I reported a spam "You haven't yet claimed for compensation for the accident you had" text to my PAYG provider (Giffgaff) this morning. I haven't had an accident BTW.
They replied that I should text back STOP!
Idiots.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/stop-spam-texts#spamTime has moved on (much quicker than it used to - or so it seems at my age) and my previous advice on residential telephony has been or is now gradually being overtaken by changes in the retail market. Hence, I have now deleted links to my previous 'pearls of wisdom'. I sincerely hope they helped save some of you money.0 -
Unfortunately, not replying to a spam SMS does not protect you from identifying your number as active.
The SMS text facility has an option for generating a SMS 'delivery receipt' that will notify the sender of the status of a transmitted SMS message.
In other words, if I send an SMS, the network service provider will send me a response SMS notifying me when my text was delivered to the recipient's handset.
This is not a feature users can disable - it's a feature enabled by the network service provider.
As a side note, you can use this feature to tell when someone turns their mobile back on. While your phone is off, the network cannot deliver any messages. As soon as you turn your phone on, any pending SMSs get delivered to your handset, and trigger the transmission of a delivery receipt...
A.0 -
I reported a spam "You haven't yet claimed for compensation for the accident you had" text to my PAYG provider (Giffgaff) this morning. I haven't had an accident BTW.
They replied that I should text back STOP!
Idiots.
moneysavingexpert.com/phones/stop-spam-texts#spam
Hi Heinz,
Your experience is exactly why myself and (it would appear) a few others from the mobile industry (I wish they'd disclose themselves properly as they'd look more credible) have been posting on this thread. MSE's advice of "do not reply, at all, ever - do not send STOP!" is completely wrong and is misleading consumers.
If the text message came from a registered 5 digit shortcode then absolutely do send STOP. The systems to remove you from a database that are associated with 5 digit short codes are fully automated, it works.
If it comes from an 11 digit mobile number then again, do send STOP.
If it doesn't come from a number then you can't reply, in that case take it up with your network and really have a good go at them.
Alternately, why not stick the full message details on this forum and maybe myself or someone else from the industry can find out more information on the spammer.0 -
I reported a spam "You haven't yet claimed for compensation for the accident you had" text to my PAYG provider (Giffgaff) this morning. I haven't had an accident BTW.
They replied that I should text back STOP!
Idiots.
moneysavingexpert.com/phones/stop-spam-texts#spam
Hi Heinz,
Your experience is exactly why myself and (it would appear) a few others from the mobile industry (I wish they'd disclose themselves properly as they'd look more credible) have been posting on this thread. MSE's advice of "do not reply, at all, ever - do not send STOP!" is completely wrong and is misleading consumers.
If the text message came from a registered 5 digit shortcode then absolutely do send STOP. The systems to remove you from a database that are associated with 5 digit short codes are fully automated, it works.
If it comes from an 11 digit mobile number then again, do send STOP.
If it doesn't come from a number then you can't reply, in that case take it up with your network and really have a good go at them.
Alternately, why not stick the full message details on this forum and maybe myself or someone else from the industry can find out more information on the spammer.
@Gary Bury,
Good post, (Edit)
This spam text has been doing the rounds for a few years now and has appeared on this and other forums many times, I have also received it. The message has been reported to both The ICO & MoJ who have done next to nothing except to contact the sender and Content Provider to inform them that they were 'being naughty boys and girls and not to do it again' or words to that affect.
It seems that this text is linked to many companies and the Content Provider sends the bulk SMS in the hope that some 'mug' will answer and this is how they, the CP, get their commision by each call received. One of the company directors who employed the CP to supply leads posted on this forum last year and was very helpful. He swore that he had no idea the method that was being used to obtain leads for his company. Sadly, in its wisdom, MSE deleted all his posts as he broke a rule by not asking if he could post here. (????)
Your advice is what is expected in normal cases, but all too often it is not a normal case. This being we are dealing with crooks who ignore the 'STOP' text or have purchased a customer list, against the rules and regulations of those wonderful Regulators Phone Pay Plus/OFCOM/ICO/MoJ who do their best to protect the public. (sarcasm :rotfl:) The scammers/spammers now avoid PP+ by using normal texts and not short codes this puts them outside the scope of PP+.
In a perfect world what you have posted would be enough advice, sadly this world, and your industry, is far from perfect, as I and many others have found to our cost. Hopefully one day the Regulators and the industry itself will rid itself of the 'cowboys', till then we can not trust any unsolicited text we receive.
:beer:0 -
I reported a spam "You haven't yet claimed for compensation for the accident you had" text to my PAYG provider (Giffgaff) this morning. I haven't had an accident BTW.
They replied that I should text back STOP!
Idiots.
moneysavingexpert.com/phones/stop-spam-texts#spam
Hi Heinz,
Your experience is exactly why myself and (it would appear) a few others from the mobile industry (I wish they'd disclose themselves properly as they'd look more credible) have been posting on this thread. MSE's advice of "do not reply, at all, ever - do not send STOP!" is completely wrong and is misleading consumers.
If the text message came from a registered 5 digit shortcode then absolutely do send STOP. The systems to remove you from a database that are associated with 5 digit short codes are fully automated, it works.
If it comes from an 11 digit mobile number then again, do send STOP.
If it doesn't come from a number then you can't reply, in that case take it up with your network and really have a good go at them.
Alternately, why not stick the full message details on this forum and maybe myself or someone else from the industry can find out more information on the spammer.
Garry, I set up another thread on this under Accident Commpensation claim ( with 2 m's )
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3306186&highlight=
To Date I have been hounded with the same message from 02 numbers based in the UK, Its the accident you had you are due £3750.00 and it comes in different varients, ie: you have still not claimed and so on.
Latest numbers used by this scum company and or individual.
+447745523696 , O2 pay & go sim card still active within the UK
+447934202556 , O2 pay & go sim card still active within the UK
+447541731873 , O2 pay & go sim card now cancelled due to unfair usage rules
+447938069887 Same as above
+447548037538 Same as above
All are 100% O2 on the pay and go sim card with the unlimited text plan service, sim purchased at whatever amount, the scummer put on approx £10-£15.00 send out approx 1000-3000 messages bin the sim card and start all over again,
I have text back stop, didnt work , I reply to each and every message in the hopes of receiving a phone call and to date not one call out of approx 150 messages received.
I know the area these are being sent from is within the South East, and also had an hours telephone conversation with an O2 Executive whom informed me that they can only switch a sim off upon finding out that its sending out these sms messages at high rates, he also said they cannot trace the area of the sim card, funny that as I have managed to.
O2 shame on you for not doing more !0 -
Just forwarded this spam the number was +4475238212570
This discussion has been closed.
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