Mobile Phone Spam is Here to Stay

[Jerry Raia]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2006-03-01T191508Z_01_SP70212_RTRUKOC_0_US-TELECOMS-SUMMIT-MOBILESPAM.xml' target='_blank'>http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=2006-03-01T191508Z_01_SP70212_RTRUKOC_0_US-TELECOMS-SUMMIT-MOBILESPAM.xml</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Fumi Ishii has changed her mobile phone e-mail address several times and once spent a month tracking down her tormentor, but the spam keeps coming. "I found the sender's contact information after a lot of research, and I called them up and complained," said the 57-year old print firm owner. "They started up again, but this time I can't figure out where it's coming from." Spam, or electronic junk mail, typically offering dating services, pornography and get-rich schemes, has moved beyond traditional e-mail and into text-messaging and mobile e-mail."</i><br /><br />I don't think I have ever gotten any spam like this. Obviously we all get regular Email spam but I think this refers to SMS type spam. Let's see what your experience has been. I'm making the questions general just to get a feel. You can post how many you get if you want. :)

[Jason Dunn]

SMS spam definitely seems to be more common in SMS-popular cultures - specifically Asian cultures. I've never recieved an SMS spam, ever. I guess I'm lucky. :D

[Jerry Raia]

Good point. If anyone posts on this and gets Spam maybe they will say where they are geographically.

[Mike Temporale]

I don't get any SMS spam - at least not yet. But I am also very careful about where I put my cell phone number. I've read stories about some of the online ringtone sites are just a place to sign up for Spam.

The one thing I don't get about SMS spam, it's not actionable. It's not like an email where you entice the user to click on a link. SMS is pure text, so your spam has to be that much better to get the person to actually type in the number or URL. I don't know about you, but I have never got a spam email that enticed me to copy and paste the link. So I can't see an SMS being that enticing to me. Just my $0.02.

[Sven Johannsen]

I have an interesting observation. I have a full fledged Cingular account with the All-you-can-eat data plan. I never have gotton SMS SPAM on that account. I never got SMS SPAM on my regular T-Mobile account when I had it. Also had the data plan there.

I also have a T-Mobile Pay-As-You-Go SIM I use to throw in phones to play with, or as a loaner when family visits (from Germany). That account gets SMS SPAM all the time. (It also gets voicemails for the deadbeat that had the number probably a year or more ago) I've never put that number down anywhere. I don't even know what it is off-hand...have to look it up everytime.

This is in Colorado, USA, BTW.

[Stinger]

I get about one SMS spam message a month. Most of them are from my flipping network operator though!

I doubt SMS spam will ever be as problematic as e-mail spam. No matter where you are in the world, sending bulk SMS costs a reasonable amount of money.

[Sven Johannsen]

sending bulk SMS costs a reasonable amount of money.How do you figure that? Sending garbage to [email protected] shouldn't cost any more than sending to a regular address. In fact it costs the recipient more often than not.