Anyone else get super annoying SMS spam trying to sell sunglasses?

Seems like this message comes once or twice a month. They use emoticons to turn an SMS message into something that resembles an email. They also do not send this as an SMS message via the SMPP protocol but rather they send it via SMTP, which is the email protocol. They know they can text people by emailing to yourphonenumber@attwireless.com (or whatever domain your carrier is using). They have a randomizer that spits out message after message, changing the number one digit at a time. So if your last 4 digits are 2331, they try same area code and prefix, then change it to 2332, 2333, 2334 and so on.

I despise these scumbags. Unlike email, text messages can cost you real money.

But you can do something about it!

First off never respond directly to a phone number where you believe the spam text originated. Responding alerts the spammer that your number is genuine.

Here are two things you can do if you get a spam text message. This is AT&T specific, but all carriers have something like this:

– Forward the spam message to the short code 7726 (SPAM) so that they can start an investigation. If you receive a number of spam texts, they recommend putting 7726 into your contact list so that you don’t need to remember the numbers.

– If you’re not able to view the number or if it’s email spam, forward them the entire message (along with the full header if it’s an email) to abuse@att.net.

There isn’t a charge to report mobile spam. Messages forwarded to 7726 don’t count toward your data usage package.

Good luck!
Jared Reitzin