# Why are cell phones not inundated with spam txt messages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577 "2006-01-11T22:58:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/1 "2006-01-11T22:58:25Z")
I’ve recently learned that most major cell phone carriers have a setup where you can send an email to a certain address (usually \@example.com) and it will get sent as a text message to the owner of the phone. This surprised me, since I would assume such a system would invite spam by the bucketfull. It’s a simple known address space and it’s easy to come up with a sender to spoof; the service provider is always sending out random messages. Yet, it doesn’t seem to. At least, my phone hasn’t yet offered me viagra. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/2 "2006-01-11T23:00:00Z")
I’m not aware of any such scheme where you can send unlimited texts like that for free. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/3 "2006-01-11T23:38:02Z")
I do get lots of spam text messages to my Japanese cell phone (although it pales in comparison to the staggering volume of spam email to my phone I used to get before I chose a long and complicated address). I have never had a spam text message to my Canadian cell phone, though. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/4 "2006-01-11T23:57:40Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’m not aware of any such scheme where you can send unlimited texts like that for free. I don’t see how verizon is charging the senders of texts to \@vtext.com? I suppose they could be limiting them somehow. I notice that the [verizon](https://www.vtext.com/customer_site/jsp/messaging_lo.jsp) website has a feature to translate you messages into goofy phone text language. > [@](#): > > What are you doing for dinner tonight? translates to > [@](#): > > WOT R U doN 4 dinner 2NITE? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/5 "2006-01-12T00:06:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’m not aware of any such scheme where you can send unlimited texts like that for free. The same way you send unlimited emails for free. I can send an email to any cell phone I can get the number for, and it will show up as a text message on the phone. The _recipient_ might get charged for receiving the text message (depending on his plan), but how could I be charged? Is gmail going to send me a bill for $0.05? They don’t even know who I am. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/6 "2006-01-12T00:27:45Z")
Cellphone charging plans are quite different here in the UK (we established that the other day, for example the recipient is never charged for incoming calls). In order to send a text messages to a phone, it has to travel across a network and in the UK, there always seems to be a charge for that; there are websites where you can sign up and send a number of free messages per month (they include a mini-ad banner), but as far as I know, all of the email-to-text services here are either something that you would have to sign up and pay for to be able to send, or would have to subscribe to in order to receive. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/7 "2006-01-12T00:31:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Cellphone charging plans are quite different here in the UK (we established that the other day, for example the recipient is never charged for incoming calls). > > In order to send a text messages to a phone, it has to travel across a network and in the UK, there always seems to be a charge for that; there are websites where you can sign up and send a number of free messages per month (they include a mini-ad banner), but as far as I know, all of the email-to-text services here are either something that you would have to sign up and pay for to be able to send, or would have to subscribe to in order to receive. Ok, so now we know why UK cell phones don’t get a bunch of spam. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/8 "2006-01-12T00:35:31Z")
There’s little benefit since I can’t easily click on the stupid links that are usually included in the spam message. Although this may change as more and more displays are touch-interface capable. And for those few who have internet browsing capability on their cell phones, I wager they are unlikely to waste airtime punching in URLs from text messages. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/9 "2006-01-12T00:43:51Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > Ok, so now we know why UK cell phones don’t get a bunch of spam. 😉 I do get spam from my service provider, trying to entice me to buy one of their extra services, but they’ll only be paying cost price to send the message. I also get occasional texts associated with third party telesales - I get a phone call asking me if I want to upgrade my handset; I hang up and within a minute I get a text making the same offer; I believe the company sending these will be paying (perhaps bulk prices) to send me the message, but that’s presumably just part of their margin. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/10 "2006-01-12T00:46:28Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > There’s little benefit since I can’t easily click on the stupid links that are usually included in the spam message. Although this may change as more and more displays are touch-interface capable. And for those few who have internet browsing capability on their cell phones, I wager they are unlikely to waste airtime punching in URLs from text messages. None of those prevent spammers from flooding in-boxes. I’ve gotten plenty of spam that doesn’t even include any links in it. The vast majority of people aren’t likely to waste their time _at all_ on links embedded in spam. Yet it keeps coming. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/11 "2006-01-12T00:47:07Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > There’s little benefit since I can’t easily click on the stupid links that are usually included in the spam message. Although this may change as more and more displays are touch-interface capable. And for those few who have internet browsing capability on their cell phones, I wager they are unlikely to waste airtime punching in URLs from text messages. Web-capable phones (or at least some of them) render URLs as proper links in the text messaging interface (at least mine does); embedded numbers and email addresses are similarly linked and activating them dials the number or fires up the mail client. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/12 "2006-01-12T01:45:55Z")
During the recent supermarket strike in Southern California, someone [apparently cracked Nextel’s network and sent out thousands of text messages to Nextel subscribers](http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/nw/?postId=3832&pageTitle=Unions+and+stores+disown+spam+attack%3B) telling them not to shop at the unionized stores. It can happen. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/13 "2006-01-12T03:57:28Z")
As an experiment, I tried sending a very spammy-looking message to my cellphone, it was > [@Me](#): > > Buy viagra online at [phentermine4chix.com](http://phentermine4chix.com)!!! It came through fine. So they’re clearly not doing any content-based filtering. Can it really be that the spammers haven’t figured it out yet? If so, I dread the future of text messaging. ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/14 "2006-01-12T04:14:06Z")
From a techie point of view, the easiest way to handle this would be to limit each IP sending to 1 message over some very long period of time (this type of option is called “Tarpitting” on the mail server we use) - if you can’t send but one message every 10 minutes, say, it would be pretty difficult to have any kind of real spamming without an absolute army of spam sending machines, and I would bet spammers could get a better return sending to normal emails with an army of machines, rather than a few people on phones. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/15 "2006-01-12T04:43:52Z")
I’ve gotten three or four spam text messages on my phone in the two years I’ve had it. Usually just a web address to go to. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/16 "2006-01-12T05:11:37Z")
It’s illegal. Telemarketing to cellphones is illegal because it can potentially cost the callee money, text messages are the same way. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/17 "2006-01-12T05:27:21Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > It’s illegal. Telemarketing to cellphones is illegal because it can potentially cost the callee money, text messages are the same way. At the risk of being formulaic: cite! Does “telemarketing” include text messages, or do any laws that apply refer specifically to telephone calls? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/18 "2006-01-12T05:39:43Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > At the risk of being formulaic: cite! > > Does “telemarketing” include text messages, or do any laws that apply refer specifically to telephone calls? [From the Feds themselves.](http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2005/04/dnc.htm) > [@](#): > > FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers are barred from calling consumers on their cell phones without their consent. [And here’s a cite which mentions text messages specifically.](http://www.wrf.com/publication_newsletters.cfm?sp=newsletter&year=2005&ID=10&publication_id=12359&keyword=) > [@](#): > > The CAN-SPAM Act, which forbids sending unsolicited commercial emails to mobile devices without the express prior authorization of the recipient. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/19 "2006-01-12T09:35:29Z")
99% of all the (email) spam I get is illegal, under both US and EU law. (The other 1% _should_ be illegal, but that’s another discussion.) Illegality is not something that concerns spammers much, so it’s not what’s stopping phone spam. My best guess is that phone networks are much more regulated and controled by individual companies than the internet, so it is not half as easy to distribute spam without being traceable. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577/20 "2006-01-12T10:04:14Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Cellphone charging plans are quite different here in the UK (we established that the other day, for example the recipient is never charged for incoming calls) Someone suggested to me they were charged when someone rang them from abroad 😕 I get plenty of those spam txts from using those free text message services online. They still come through, maybe once a fortnight, months after I used those text services. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cell-phones-not-inundated-with-spam-txt-messages/339577.md?page=2)