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Killing Unwanted Text Messages from Yahoo! Alerts?
Creighti asks: "When I first got my new cellphone I immediately received several automated Text Message 'Alerts' from Yahoo and MSN which recurred on a daily basis. My guess was (is) that the previous owner of my cell phone number signed up for these things. Six months later I'm still getting unwanted text messages from Yahoo! Alerts.
I managed to get rid of the MSN messages by signing up with MSN (gack), registering the phone number as mine, and de-selecting all text messages. I've tried the same trick with Yahoo. I've tried filling out the Yahoo! Help form that appeared to apply (interestingly enough, the Yahoo Help entry I've used several times to request they stop sending the unwanted alert appears to have been removed, but clicking the 'No' button on this page would work). I've even tried emailing abuse@yahoo.com. Anyone else getting text-message spammed by Yahoo! (or any other service)? Any suggestions for what I should do next to try and get Yahoo! to stop sending these unwanted messages?" Why aren't the text message preferences deleted when the cancellation notices comes thru?
Just a guess, but probably what is registered is an e-mail address like 3215551212@sprintpcs.com which is how e-mail can find its way to SprintPCS phones. The service you sign up for may have no relation to your cell provider, so cancelling one doesn't cancel the other and then your phone number (and hence e-mail address) can be recycled.
...how easy is it to dick with people you don't like by registering their cell phone number with dozens of text alert sites? If these messages don't include a way to unsubscribe, they probably aren't confirmed opt-in either.
I've tried this with my land-line phone and it isn't that easy to get them to do it. I'm sure that a wireless company, since they charge by the airtime, would want to help you out on this more than SBC Ameritech would.
We kept getting calls from a telemarketing company in NYC where no one was ever on the other end of the line when we answered. When I asked Ameritech if they would block this particular phone number they said that could only do it if we reported it to the police as harassment and they got a court order to block it.
One more reason to drop my land-line altogether and stop shelling money to those people.
A man with a gun is called a citizen. A man without a gun is called a subject.
That is complete BS but the same thing happened to me with email.
This is the problem.
1. Sign up for yahoo email.
2. Register an alternate email address of someone you don't like.
3. sign up the alternate address for all kinds of junk.
Their is no way they can cancel it. Yahoo will do what they always do when you email them for help, flush it down the toilet, or threaten YOU for spamming them...
Trust me. You won't be on that list for long. If you are, take a trip to your friendly neighborhood court and file for a small claims case. Then you're talking settlement.
My
Limekiller
That should work. Send them a DMCA violation notice. That would force them to take it off.
I worked in a municipal court over the summer. I watched a lot of people not get their money in small claims court.
Now, if you win against somebody like Yahoo!, then you're probably pretty safe. They're a big target, and they're not particularly likely or able to hide themselves, and they probably won't go bankrupt due to a small claims suit. However, while getting a default judgement is relatively easy (it's your proof against them not showing up), it can be very difficult to track people to get them to pay. Often, people who get evicted move out and don't leave an address or number, or businesses who get sued simply "disappear", and there's no contact avaialbe for the person who ran the business. Once they find an personal address or place of employment or the place where they bank, they can garnish wages or accounts, or serve them for a debtors exam, where they would reveal all their assets.
The bottom line is, once you get a judgement in your favor, it's not as easy as you think to get your money.
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A bank (Nation's Bank I think) called my cell phone one time. They claimed they "must have been given a wrong number" but the lady knew my name, so I wasn't buying it. I have no accounts with them, nor have I ever given out my cell to any companies. So I asked to speak with her manager. I happily told them that it was illegal to solicit to cell phones. They tried to feed me some more BS, so I asked for her manager. I finally got to someone decently high up, and they must have just been too busy to care, because they just said "send us a bill."
So, I itemized the lost minutes, as well as about an hour's worth of lost wages (this was during work) and sent it off. Sure enough, about two weeks later I got a check in the mail.
Needless to say, I didn't cash it...it makes a good story. Plus, my coworkers thought I was crazy when I was on the phone.
YAHOO, on the other hand, has consistantly bounced attempts to notify them that they are using invalid addresses for spam when sent to their "errors to" address, and so they continue to send spam to addresses that no longer exist. In fact, they continue to send spam to addresses that never existed in the first place!
I suspect the only way to stop it is going to involve the legal system and court-ordered cash settlements... Or, an article in the Wall Street Journal about them, just before some important SEC filing!