Mobile phone spam
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Mobile phone spam
Mobile phone spam is a form of
spamming directed at the text messaging service of a
mobile phone. It is described as mobile spamming, 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
their hundreds of thousands by
autodialers
at little or no cost to the originator, as there is no charge for calls which do
not connect.
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.
External links
Home | Up | History of spamming | Stopping e-mail abuse | e-Mail spam | e-Mail fraud | Messaging spam | Mobile phone spam | Newsgroup spam | Spit (VoIP spam) | Honeypot | Spamware | Pills porn and poker | Joe job | Spam Prevention Early Warning System
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This guide is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
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