Mobile Phone Users Beware: Spam Scam Alert!

Mobile phone users are being bombarded with up to four million spam text messages a day, according to a British survey. The figures are alarming as it has shown an increase that is greater than the number of spam emails received. With consumers targeted by four million unwanted texts a day, it is only a matter of time before text messages will be full of junk SMS messages. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these spam text messages are not limited to users of fancy phones along, even the simplest mobile phones are being targeted. Take for example, the following message which has been sent to my $5 mobile phone time and time again:

“Free Msg: Our records indicate you may be entitled to £3350 for the accident you had. To apply free reply CLAIM to this message. To opt out text STOP.“

Imagine the surprise on my face the first time I got this message. I didn’t have to Google ‘how to identify spam text messages’ to know that it was an obvious spam text. Firstly, it was unsolicited, the sender’s number was not registered on my phone and fortunately I had not been involved in any accidents.

While it may not be a surprise that smart-phones are being targeted with spam messages, one could have been forgiven for thinking that a simple mobile phones whose only functions include sending/receiving text messages and making/receiving telephone calls would also be targeted. All that has changed now.

Previous experiences with spam emails before they became common has taught us that quite a lot of innocent people fall victims to scams such as these in the early days, if not properly educated.   On a similar note, one can only imagine that if nothing is done about this latest trend in terms of educating mobile and smart-phone users about the reality and dangers of spam text messages, a lot more people will end up becoming victims of the growing mobile spam scams. Perhaps it won’t be long before anti-virus and spam filtering programs will be vigorously advertised for mobile phones too.

Talking Point

Have you ever been a victim of a mobile phone scam?