The Trouble With Spam Text Message

THE TROUBLE SPAMMER WITH SPAM TEXT MESSAGES Our records indicate that you may be entitled to £3750 for your accident. To claim reply YES to this message. To opt out reply STOP CONSUMER SURVEY ON ŠMS SPAM OF THE 1200 РЕOPLE ASKED 43% were spammed 30% of those had received the text in the last month There are 48.5 Million adult mobile users in the UK 43% = 20 Million users have received these messages. People are often retargeted with similar texts, so the total amount of messages sent is even higher. This is not 'mobile marketing' - it is SPAM. WHY DO COMPANIES SEND SPAM? A spammer initiates interest in a claim by sending an unsolicited SMS or automated call £££ Responses are sold to a claims management ompany (CMC) for £5 each. These are followed up and qualified by the CMC £7,000,000 However a Panorama investigation revealed that mobile numbers and leads generated With an estimated 1.4 million by spam can be sold to CMCS responses sold at £5 each, the a few times over value of the SMS leads runs to over £7m All qualified leads are then sold for approximately £300 each to Panorama also linked expensive car lawyers who are ultimately profiting from this unethical insurance premiums to a rise in frivolous claims – encouraged by practice such spam messages. Genuine claimants and genuine solicitors get caught in the crossfire A DMA/Toluna Quick Survey found that there was a common confusion of who to complain to about spam CONSUMERS ARE UNSURE OF WHERE TO SEND COMPLAINTS 46% 20% 4% 17% 9% (3% 46% had no idea who to complain to 20% would complain to Ofcom 17% to their network operator 9% to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) 4% to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) 3% to the Information Commissioner Spam text messages are often in breach of the PECR which is regulated by the ICO. Stil, only 3% of consumers would complain to them. SPAM TEXT MESSAGES AND FRAUD A surge in text message spam has left UK mobile users even more vulnerable to fraud 95 Million Spam text messages are processed per day in Europe & America 33.2% 92% Fraud related Sophisticated attempts by fraudsters to gain personal data to sell for profit messages Debt eradication 35% 5% M Accident compensation WHATS THE ŠUBJECT? TOP 4 TYPES IN UK 22% 32% Instant Loan PPI Claim Known as 'smishing' - a term which is a combination of SMS and 'phishing' - the messages are part of a recent trend towards more complicated and misleading spam which is harder for customers to detect. SO.WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Follow our guide to ensure you don't fall victim to spam text messages 1. Understand the problem Spam text messages are not personalised to you - they may use your name or personal details, but the content is automatically generated. If you receive a message from a premium rate number (4, 5 or 6 digits long), contact your service provider straightaway, as you may have been charged for the text. 2. Never respond to a SPAM text message Even by sending a response such as 'leave me alone', you are indicating to the spammer that your phone is active - and this could result in even more spam flooding into your inbox. Even by replying with 'STOP' you could be signalling that your phone is in use - ignore them all. Best practice is to forward the message to 7726 (prefix 8 at the start if on Vodafone) or via the ICO website. 3. Only use a genuine personal injury solicitor If you have genuinely been injured and feel you are entitled to accident compensation - be proactive. Get in touch with an experienced personal injury lawyer and work together to fight for the justice you deserve. You are entitled to damages; don't believe you are part of some 'compensation culture' for pursuing a genuine claim. REAL Spencers|solicitors SOLICITORS FOR GENUINE ACCIDENTS www.spencerssolicitors.com 08000 93 00 94 Sources: DMA: Tackling the text spammers (19/09/2011) | Cloudmark: Spam text messages and fraud (28/05/2012) THE TROUBLE SPAMMER WITH SPAM TEXT MESSAGES Our records indicate that you may be entitled to £3750 for your accident. To claim reply YES to this message. To opt out reply STOP CONSUMER SURVEY ON ŠMS SPAM OF THE 1200 РЕOPLE ASKED 43% were spammed 30% of those had received the text in the last month There are 48.5 Million adult mobile users in the UK 43% = 20 Million users have received these messages. People are often retargeted with similar texts, so the total amount of messages sent is even higher. This is not 'mobile marketing' - it is SPAM. WHY DO COMPANIES SEND SPAM? A spammer initiates interest in a claim by sending an unsolicited SMS or automated call £££ Responses are sold to a claims management ompany (CMC) for £5 each. These are followed up and qualified by the CMC £7,000,000 However a Panorama investigation revealed that mobile numbers and leads generated With an estimated 1.4 million by spam can be sold to CMCS responses sold at £5 each, the a few times over value of the SMS leads runs to over £7m All qualified leads are then sold for approximately £300 each to Panorama also linked expensive car lawyers who are ultimately profiting from this unethical insurance premiums to a rise in frivolous claims – encouraged by practice such spam messages. Genuine claimants and genuine solicitors get caught in the crossfire A DMA/Toluna Quick Survey found that there was a common confusion of who to complain to about spam CONSUMERS ARE UNSURE OF WHERE TO SEND COMPLAINTS 46% 20% 4% 17% 9% (3% 46% had no idea who to complain to 20% would complain to Ofcom 17% to their network operator 9% to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) 4% to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) 3% to the Information Commissioner Spam text messages are often in breach of the PECR which is regulated by the ICO. Stil, only 3% of consumers would complain to them. SPAM TEXT MESSAGES AND FRAUD A surge in text message spam has left UK mobile users even more vulnerable to fraud 95 Million Spam text messages are processed per day in Europe & America 33.2% 92% Fraud related Sophisticated attempts by fraudsters to gain personal data to sell for profit messages Debt eradication 35% 5% M Accident compensation WHATS THE ŠUBJECT? TOP 4 TYPES IN UK 22% 32% Instant Loan PPI Claim Known as 'smishing' - a term which is a combination of SMS and 'phishing' - the messages are part of a recent trend towards more complicated and misleading spam which is harder for customers to detect. SO.WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Follow our guide to ensure you don't fall victim to spam text messages 1. Understand the problem Spam text messages are not personalised to you - they may use your name or personal details, but the content is automatically generated. If you receive a message from a premium rate number (4, 5 or 6 digits long), contact your service provider straightaway, as you may have been charged for the text. 2. Never respond to a SPAM text message Even by sending a response such as 'leave me alone', you are indicating to the spammer that your phone is active - and this could result in even more spam flooding into your inbox. Even by replying with 'STOP' you could be signalling that your phone is in use - ignore them all. Best practice is to forward the message to 7726 (prefix 8 at the start if on Vodafone) or via the ICO website. 3. Only use a genuine personal injury solicitor If you have genuinely been injured and feel you are entitled to accident compensation - be proactive. Get in touch with an experienced personal injury lawyer and work together to fight for the justice you deserve. You are entitled to damages; don't believe you are part of some 'compensation culture' for pursuing a genuine claim. REAL Spencers|solicitors SOLICITORS FOR GENUINE ACCIDENTS www.spencerssolicitors.com 08000 93 00 94 Sources: DMA: Tackling the text spammers (19/09/2011) | Cloudmark: Spam text messages and fraud (28/05/2012)