Stupid phone spam!

[Simplicity]

I have a pay-as-you-go phone from Cingular. And every now and then, BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP. In come the spam text messages. Receiving each of these spam messages costs me 5 cents. Plus, I get a $1 charge because I "used" my phone today. To receive spam.
Spam has cost me a total of $1.50 today.

These messages don't try to sell me anything. They contain only random english poetry-like text (to avoid the spam filters), and that's it (at least that's all my craptastic phone can/will display... not that I care).

I don't want text messaging. I don't text people. I don't even want the ability to receive text messages. I've called up Cingular and asked them to turn off this "feature". They "can't" (and why would they want to, really?). Apparently, if I want to stop receiving spam, I must either respond to the texter with a "stop" SMS message... which will cost me 5 cents to send. And I have to hope they pay attention to it, rather than say, "Oh look, this address is alive!" Or I have to contact the ISP of the originating email address.

Thank god I have a pay-as-you-go-phone. At least I have an upper limit to how much money I can lose to spam this way. It would be pretty easy to bomb someone and make them lose a whole lot of money this way...

GRRRRRR!!! I hate crap like this!

 

[trancejeremy]

Hmmmm, I have one of those pay as you go phones and never have had anything like that. I use Virgin, though.

What I do get, and annoys the heck out of me, is that when it's time to top up the card again, they start calling me. Early in the morning on the weekends.

 

[grimwell]

Woah! That just helped me make a decision. I'm moving to a new state, and picking up a phone to use there... and it won't be Cingular. The technology exists to turn those messages of -- the fact that they choose not to when you request it tells me that service is not high on their list of concerns.

 

[Morrus]

You have to pay to recieve text messages? That's freaky.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I used to get a ton of it years ago. There's nothing like having your phone wake you at 4am to tell you you need a bigger penis to make you start wondering whether the universe is out to get you.

But I can't remember the last time I got one. I thought most of the phone companies had figured out how to block it by now. It's a lot easier to trap than email.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

The only spam I ever got was from my phone provider. I think that got stopped though because the way that they were doing it was illegal.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Audhild&Krin]

When you talked to Cingular did you go into a store or dial 611? I used to work for a company Cingular outsourced thier buisiness accounts to and we were able to turn off the text message feature. Of course those weren't the pay as you go phones. Have you tried going to thier website and checking the user manual for your phone? There might be a way for you to turn off messaging. What model phone is it? Someone might be strong enough in the google-fu to find a backdoor method of stopping text messages.

 

[Simplicity]

I used 611. I think the pay as you go service is somehow different from their normal service. I think the normal service allows at least spam FILTERS. That's all I need really. Please filter all mail containing the letter "e".

But not even the website lets me do anything to stop the stuff. And yes, I know that's lame.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't had many other problems with the pay-as-you-go phone. And it's reasonably cheap on non-spam days.

 

[Simplicity]

Oops double post.

 

[Goldmoon]

AM I the only person left in the verse who does not have a cell phone?