news report on cell phone spam - 'tough' [telecom]

Oct 04, 2011 3 Replies

A local TV news report discussed the problem of spam texts and phone calls to cell phones, where the callee often has to pay for them. Many people interviewed resented the intrusion of such calls and texts and their cost.



The news report said "it's hard for [users] to stop this on cell phones". (I don't know if that's true) They quoted the carriers as saying they will credit customers for such calls upon request.



(Not mentioned was how difficult it sometimes can be to reach a carrier's customer service to get such a credit.)



For myself, after receiving and billed for several unsolicited spam messages I had my carrier turn off texting, a feature I don't use. I can't help but wonder if the carriers and telephone network administrators could do more to stop spam and illegal solicitation calls. (It's also illegal to call a nursing home resident, but sales people would call my mother.)



[public replies, please]

For my part, I just keep a zero balance on a Virgin Mobile phone, and when my "minute pack" runs out, I add just enough money to buy another one. No money, no text messages.

Bill Horne (Filter QRM for direct replies)

No phone calls either!

What's your point? ;-)

Seriously, reread what I wrote in the first post: I put just enough money in the account to buy a block of VOICE minutes, and because there's no money left, the system won't allow me to receive text messages. When the VOICE "minute pack" runs out, I repeat the process, and I'm never bothered by text messages.

Bill

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