Mobile phone spam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mobile phone spam is a form of spamming directed at the text messaging service of a mobile phone. It is described as mobile spamming or SMS spam, but is most frequently referred to as m-spam.
In 2002 and 2003, frequent users of cell phone text messages began to see an increase in the number of unsolicited (and generally unwanted) commercial advertisements being sent to their cell phones through text messaging.
In the United States, this use is regulated by the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.
Often these messages consist of a simple request to call a number. Normal mobile phone etiquette often results in the call being returned by the user. When they then return the call, they are unaware that they have been fraudulently induced to call a premium-rate line. There is frequently an attempt to get them to hold on the line for as long as possible in order to maximise revenue from this fraud.
Another form of mobile phone fraud is the one-ring fraud, where an incoming call to a mobile phone is timed such that it will ring once (or without any sound at all), and then cut off before the user can answer. This leaves the missed call number on their phone, and the rest of the fraud is as above. In this case, it is the (real or apparent) calling number details which are being spammed to the phone, as these calls are made in the hundreds of thousands by autodialers at little or no cost to the originator, as there is no charge for calls which do not connect. The return number can also be a 900 number in the US that charges a fee to your telephone bill for returning a call.
Both of these frauds can be combined with other frauds such as the advance fee fraud, as they act as a pre-screening stage for fraudsters to capture the telephone numbers of particularly trusting individuals.
As with spamming in general, there are usually no special laws against mobile phone spamming. However, existing laws can often be used to combat the problem. On June 10, 2004 Russian SMS spammer Dmitry Androsov was convicted for mobile phone spam by Chelyabinsk court. Dmitry was sued by Megafon, one of the largest Russian mobile operators, for sending SMS with expletives to more than 16000 mobile phone users. The fact that the sending was carried out using a Perl script allowed the court to convict him under the article 273 of the Russian Criminal Code (creation, use and distribution of malicious programs) to 1 year probational sentence and 3000 ruble (more than $100) fine.
On 12 April 2006, Singapore authorities has imposed a SGD$150,000 fine to mTouche content provider for unauthorised Use of End User Information and Unsolicited, Chargeable SMSes.
On October 5, 2006, the California Public Utilities Commission issued a settlement decision in Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN)[1] v. Sprint Telephony PCS[2], Case 05-07-021[3]. UCAN alleged that Sprint violated California law by sending customers unsolicited text message advertisements for Sprint services and charging customers $0.10 per message[4]. In the settlement, Sprint agreed to stop charging customers for Sprint advertisements and committed to identifying and fully crediting all affected customers[5].
On January 31, 2007, a federal court preliminarily approved the first settlement of an unsolicited text message class action in the United States[6]. Under the settlement, class members are expected to receive as much as $150.00 per person[7]. The lawsuit was brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 -- a federal statute designed to combat unsolicted calls to cellular telephones, paging devices, and fax machines. The lawsuit was brought by Blim & Edelson[8], a Chicago-based class action firm.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- BBC News: Clampdown on missed call scam
- SMS Spam hits Qatar
- iDA Singapore :mTouche Fined $150,000
- 4 Wise Monkeys: DC Marketing Phone Scam in Australia
- WhoCalledUs: Database of spamming phone numbers submitted by people receiving unwanted calls
- 800Notes: The website has a user-supported directory of spamming phone numbers.
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| E-mail spam | DNSBL • Spamhaus • Anti-spam techniques • Spambot • Address munging • SORBS E-mail authentication • Directory Harvest Attack • SpamCop • Dictionary spamming |
| Spamdexing | Google bomb • Keyword stuffing • Cloaking • Link farm • Web ring Referer spam • Blog spam • Spam blogs |
| Telemarketing | Autodialer • Mobile phone spam • VoIP spam |
| Scams | Phishing • Advance fee fraud • Lottery scam • Make money fast • Pump and dump |
| Misc. | Messaging spam • Newsgroup spam • Flyposting History of spamming • Network Abuse Clearinghouse |
