• Font Size    

KDKA.com Consumer Web Extras

Does It Really Do That? (Recent Reports)
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Experts Offer Tips To Deal With Cell Phone Spam

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Jun 16, 2008 5:52 pm US/Eastern

Experts Offer Tips To Deal With Cell Phone Spam

Links: ConsumerReports.org

More Links: National Do Not Call Registry | FCC.gov: Do Not Call Registry
(KDKA) Unwanted text messages on your cell phone that sometimes can even come along with a charge on your bill can be annoying. But Consumer Reports says there are some ways to fight this form of solicitation.

This year, Americans will receive an estimated 1.5 billion unwanted cell phone spam messages.

Experts say that's twice as much as in 2006.

"People don't realize they could unknowingly be inviting spam when they download ringtones, games and other stuff from vendors they don't know or trust," says Mike Gikas, of Consumer Reports.

Cell phone users are protected from spam by the Can-Spam Act, which prohibits sending commercial messages to cell phones without "express prior authorization."

"Unfortunately, the law has a lot of loopholes," adds Gikas. "For example when you sign up for service, even from your own vendor, you're also giving them permission to send you messages as well as their partners."

Consumer Reports says you can call your carrier right away to help minimize cell phone spam. That way you're more likely to have charges for messages waived before they pile up, and you can block spam at the source.

"You can go to your cell account online, access preferences for text messaging and e-mail and block text messages from internet based accounts," says Gikas. "Of course, you can still get the text messages you want from family and friends when they use their cell phones."

To block cell phone spam, experts says you can also register your cell phone number with the National Do-Not Call Registry.

Also, you can file a complaint about cell phone spam with the FCC.

More Information:  ConsumerReports.org

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Consumer Reports

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.