Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Spammers Start Abusing Cell Phones

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the it's-only-gonna-get-worse dept.

slimyrubber writes "Just when you thought that spam couldnt get any worst, Cell phones are becoming the latest target of electronic junk mail, with a growing number of marketers using text messages to target subscribers. Is cell-phone spam likely to evolve into something that big, something approaching the scale of e-mail spam? Not if you help to kill SMS spam where it starts. Hopefully."

10 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. the worst by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    And just when you thought butchering the English language couldn't get any worst...

    1. Re:the worst by Epistax · · Score: 4, Funny

      Starting a sentence with and, then not finish the sentence (fragment) and using "worst" instead of worse.. Yes, you are right. I didn't think it could get any worse than that.

  2. What Next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    First Email, Then Phones.. Will next be my fridge?

  3. Re:Hmm. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    I seem to recall that in the US, telemarketing to cellular phones was illegal, as the receiver often pays for it directly.

    I seem to recall that spammers don't exactly care about what's legal or not... or at the very least the ones that chose to page me and wake me up at 2AM with their important messages of where I can get a good mortgage and how to enlarge my penis.

  4. You know what this means! by SushiFugu · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fast forward a year or so from now: "Ask Slashdot: Where Do Dummy Cell Phone Numbers Go?"

    1. Re:You know what this means! by lrucker · · Score: 2, Funny
      Fast forward a year or so from now: "Ask Slashdot: Where Do Dummy Cell Phone Numbers Go?"

      And the top dummy number will be "8675309@jenny.com"

  5. Sausages! by ksp · · Score: 3, Funny
    Just when you thought that spam couldn't get any worst...

    And this happended just when I thought my wursts couldn't get any more spam...

    --
    What is the sound of one hand clapping?
    cat /dev/null > /dev/audio
  6. Re:In the UK... by jb.hl.com · · Score: 2, Funny

    I get those.

    I also get ones from "Lust" saying that someone has a secret crush on me and to call a premium rate number to find out who...hmm, not bloody likely :)

    --
    By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
  7. Re:Hmm. by Mudcathi · · Score: 2, Funny
    No person may... Initiate any telephone call using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice...

    Obviously, this is not one of our more effective laws, eh? My cell phone company has Mr. Robot call me every month when my bill becomes past due.

    --

    "He who throws mud, loses ground." - proverb

  8. spam about cellphone spam! by Jamie+Zawinski · · Score: 3, Funny
    I got this extremely head-explodey spam the other day. Though, I guess it's nice to see spammers engaging in predation on other spammers for once...

    Subject: Become an CELLPHONE SPAMMER
    From: "Rickey Brock" <...@yahoo.com>

    Everyone knows response rates for email spam have gone downhill tremendously over the past two years. It's no surprise ... after all, we've been bombarding people with ads for everything from penile enlargement pills to mortgages almost since the day the Web was invented.

    But cellphones are a different story. Very few people know how to mass broadcast text messages.

    But I do. I've been doing it for six months now, and the response rate is HUGE. If I send a hundred thousand messages, I'll pull 20 good mortgage leads easily. And it's not hard to send a few million text messages a day. Remember, cellphone carriers ARE NOT ISPS. They don't know anything about filters! They have a few filters, sure, but they are weak and ineffective.

    Bottom line ... I am getting sued by two major carriers and must get out of the business. I am willing to pass on the torch to 3 people only. I will give you everything you need to start mass mailing text messages instantly. Here is what I will provide you:

    [...blah blah blah ... ]

    I am not a ripoff. Upon request, I can fax you a copy of the 74 page lawsuit against me by Verizon. I have been a bulker since 1996 and focused entirely on text messaging for the past six months.

    Once again, contact me at [different email address] for more info.

    Sincerely,

    Eddy M.