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I recently was scanning the Washington Post when this headline caught my eye: Advertising Sent To Cellphones Opens New Front In War on Spam. Is there a draft in this war on cell phone spam? If so, sign me up.
Just two weeks ago, I received my first SMS spam: “Just saw ur pfile. Ur cute.” It provided a link for me to visit, which in turn, would have provided me with a cute little virus.
I don’t mind receiving SMS-based marketing messages that I’ve opted-in to. Spam text messages, however, seem like an invasion of privacy, even more so than the dinnertime sales call. But while this particular spam text was annoying – it took away from my 200-a-month text plan – it luckily didn’t do any real harm. That’s not the case for victims of “smishing,” or the SMS version of phishing. Along with shutting down corporate mobile networks, these spam texts can persuade consumers to give up personal information.
With the cell phone rising as a medium for personal communication with consumers, should marketers be concerned about a potential backlash against mobile marketing due to spam? Click here to vote and leave your thoughts below.
On a positive note, as critical as I am of my mobile service provider, I was happy to learn that cell phone companies are blocking millions of spam texts each month by using sophisticated filters. In addition, they are even taking spammers to court. Maybe that's why text messages can cost upwards of 10 cents a piece (which trust me, can add up). On second thought, probably not.
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