Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the step-in-the-right-direction dept.
mickers writes "news.com.au reports that in Australia, phone companies which allow SMS spam to be sent across their networks face fines of up to A$10 million under a new industry code.." Are people having a huge problem with SMS spam yet, or is this sort of action more pre-emptive?
SMS Spam from my provider
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
The worst SMS spam that I get is actually from my telephone (wireless) provider.
Every so often, they send me a message telling me about their cheap rates and how I could be working more efficiently by using SMS:)
Re:SMS Spam from my provider
by
KDan
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
The worst in europe is the way some networks message you to let you know that you're going through one network or another (as they all interoperate). So you're driving on the highway at 120+km/h, and you suddenly get your phone beeping to let you know... that you're welcome to SFR/Orange/Vodafone/etc. They should be sued because that is probably a cause for accidents.
Daniel
-- Carpe Diem
This only applies to telco tho.
by
Soahc
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
If i read it correctly. This only applies to the telco's who take a list and do mass dump of sms's onto the network. Pople like blueskyfrog who spam anyone with a phone won't be hit by this because they do their own sms, and arn't a telco.
SMS Spam is definately already a problem. The carriers themselves have been guilty of spamming their own users with new offers they can take advantage of - for a fee, of course. I'd link the story from AustralianIT, but their article seems to have vanished except from Google cache...hrm.
Its good to see a quick reaction to this, and it would be nice to think it might even have some influence on the issue of email spam as well...
The only SMS spam I have gotten so far has been from my service provider, Cingular. I don't think they'd press charges against themselves, so this doesn't really help. However, it's a good step. Being charged by the message, I'd be pretty annnoyed to be spammed.
dont know about the states
by
wisdom_brewing
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
i dont know how it is in the states... i dont think texting really took off there, nearly as much as it did in the UK or around europe, from what ive heard its quite big in australia as well... i get a few spam sms messages a month and though this is nowhere near the level of email spam, it is much easier to combat, as phone use, especially with texts, can easily be traced and excessive text use will be easily seen, simple... but yeh... tsmy pointless comments
can YOU turn off SMS?
by
Openadvocate
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I don't get SMS spam and I ever use SMS. If SMS spam became a problem, I would just turn SMS off. But I have never had a phone where I could disable incoming SMS. Does anyone has such a phone?
Of course, one could just let the inbox fill up the memory but thats not a great way to solve it.
I wonder, especially with the increasing number of phones with the Java Micro Edition installed, if we will soon have anti-spam software available for your mobile phone? Much the same way as there is anti email spam software for Outlook and the like.
Interestingly enough...
by
rosewood
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
just had a girlfriend get back from the old.au
She was very suprised that everyone used SMS down there. She said it was rather expensive to call someone on your cell and its $.25 to send someone an SMS. Before she left I tried to convince her to get a plan for her cell phone here that has SMS and she said it was silly.
Seriously, those in the know here that use SMS love it. Those that dont -- well poo on them.
However, its starting to have the AIM effect. One of her friends that was with us picking her up is a freshman in college and she was talking about how all her girlfriends text eachother at the mall......
I just cancelled the SMS option on my cellphone...
by
ChilyWily
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
as a last defense - I'm a very low user of SMS (1-2 messages per 2-3 months) so I was on a 'per use' basis where I would pay for each outgoing (10 cents) and incoming (2 cents) messages. It wasn't too bad and it was useful as I could use the service when I needed to. I'm not sure how, but in the past two months I've received around 12 spam messages originating from web spammers. This is quite a surprise since I haven't ever given out my number to anyone.
I called the cellphone company each time, the first time they gave me a refund on *one* of the spam messages, the second time they wanted me to sign up for a monthly $4.99 fee to get all those messages for 'free' - I explained my situation but it was all in vain, the droid I got couldn't understand why I wouldn't want to pay only $4.99 a month for messages I did not want - in the end I just cancelled the SMS service because heck I had already wasted 20mins with the cell phone rep and that was the only way I wouldn't be paying for this crap.
I think if the system charged the phone companies for relaying spam across their networks to user the problem would be solved yesterday. So long as people are willing to tolerate this there is no incentive for change. I propose that everyone mention spam to their networks and if possible opt out of the service. That will get some attention (eventually).
I am thankful that I have never given out my SMS address to anyone. In over a year I haven't gotten a single spam on it. What I want to know is, when will we get over this whole spam friendly system?
I think if we had a system where you could issue ID numbers, long hex numbers, to potential callers and spammers then auto filter out anything without the proper ID number we would be a lot better off. Think about a fancy party, you only send out invites to those you want to show up, and when they get there they have to show the invite or get kicked out.
With proper setup, it should become just as common as phone numbers on applications and in forms. Just enter your email or other address, then enter your auth ID for that contact. If they break it the rules, delete the auth ID and their junk is stopped at the ISP or [cell] phone co.
Just my 2 cents but you'd think in this day in age we wouldn't all be on our knees begging for mercy instead of standing up and figuring a way out of this mess.
Slashdot Mirror
The worst SMS spam that I get is actually from my telephone (wireless) provider.
:)
Every so often, they send me a message telling me about their cheap rates and how I could be working more efficiently by using SMS
If i read it correctly. This only applies to the telco's who take a list and do mass dump of sms's onto the network. Pople like blueskyfrog who spam anyone with a phone won't be hit by this because they do their own sms, and arn't a telco.
SMS Spam is definately already a problem. The carriers themselves have been guilty of spamming their own users with new offers they can take advantage of - for a fee, of course. I'd link the story from AustralianIT, but their article seems to have vanished except from Google cache...hrm. Its good to see a quick reaction to this, and it would be nice to think it might even have some influence on the issue of email spam as well...
The only SMS spam I have gotten so far has been from my service provider, Cingular. I don't think they'd press charges against themselves, so this doesn't really help. However, it's a good step. Being charged by the message, I'd be pretty annnoyed to be spammed.
i dont know how it is in the states... i dont think texting really took off there, nearly as much as it did in the UK or around europe, from what ive heard its quite big in australia as well... i get a few spam sms messages a month and though this is nowhere near the level of email spam, it is much easier to combat, as phone use, especially with texts, can easily be traced and excessive text use will be easily seen, simple... but yeh... tsmy pointless comments
I am very sucseptible to "let's have another drink"
I don't get SMS spam and I ever use SMS. If SMS spam became a problem, I would just turn SMS off. But I have never had a phone where I could disable incoming SMS. Does anyone has such a phone?
Of course, one could just let the inbox fill up the memory but thats not a great way to solve it.
my sig
I wonder, especially with the increasing number of phones with the Java Micro Edition installed, if we will soon have anti-spam software available for your mobile phone? Much the same way as there is anti email spam software for Outlook and the like.
just had a girlfriend get back from the old .au
...
She was very suprised that everyone used SMS down there. She said it was rather expensive to call someone on your cell and its $.25 to send someone an SMS. Before she left I tried to convince her to get a plan for her cell phone here that has SMS and she said it was silly.
Seriously, those in the know here that use SMS love it. Those that dont -- well poo on them.
However, its starting to have the AIM effect. One of her friends that was with us picking her up is a freshman in college and she was talking about how all her girlfriends text eachother at the mall...
plz no.
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
as a last defense - I'm a very low user of SMS (1-2 messages per 2-3 months) so I was on a 'per use' basis where I would pay for each outgoing (10 cents) and incoming (2 cents) messages. It wasn't too bad and it was useful as I could use the service when I needed to. I'm not sure how, but in the past two months I've received around 12 spam messages originating from web spammers. This is quite a surprise since I haven't ever given out my number to anyone.
I called the cellphone company each time, the first time they gave me a refund on *one* of the spam messages, the second time they wanted me to sign up for a monthly $4.99 fee to get all those messages for 'free' - I explained my situation but it was all in vain, the droid I got couldn't understand why I wouldn't want to pay only $4.99 a month for messages I did not want - in the end I just cancelled the SMS service because heck I had already wasted 20mins with the cell phone rep and that was the only way I wouldn't be paying for this crap.
I think if the system charged the phone companies for relaying spam across their networks to user the problem would be solved yesterday. So long as people are willing to tolerate this there is no incentive for change. I propose that everyone mention spam to their networks and if possible opt out of the service. That will get some attention (eventually).
I am thankful that I have never given out my SMS address to anyone. In over a year I haven't gotten a single spam on it. What I want to know is, when will we get over this whole spam friendly system?
I think if we had a system where you could issue ID numbers, long hex numbers, to potential callers and spammers then auto filter out anything without the proper ID number we would be a lot better off. Think about a fancy party, you only send out invites to those you want to show up, and when they get there they have to show the invite or get kicked out.
With proper setup, it should become just as common as phone numbers on applications and in forms. Just enter your email or other address, then enter your auth ID for that contact. If they break it the rules, delete the auth ID and their junk is stopped at the ISP or [cell] phone co.
Just my 2 cents but you'd think in this day in age we wouldn't all be on our knees begging for mercy instead of standing up and figuring a way out of this mess.
-tog