Spam Moves From Computers to Phones

A 2005 ban of unwanted text messages by U.S. government agencies hasn’t worked, The Washington Post said Monday.

Verizon Wireless said it blocks more than 200 million unwanted text messages from advertisers and scam-artists every month, the paper said.

Carriers are beefing up filtering systems but text message spammers are still getting through in many cases.

The texts are there, on my phone, and they just keep coming, one consumer whose phone is set to only receive text messages from approved numbers told the Post.

A major difference between e-mail and text-message spam is that the consumer who receives an unwanted text message on the phone is often charged a fee.

Banks send updates on accounts. Travel agencies send updates on a flight’s status, the report said. But, many unwanted text messages are more insidious: telemarketers or, worse, identity thieves on the prowl.

Verizon and others are taking some telemarketers to court, the report said, as unsolicited messages flood phone systems and also cost the companies money.

We have every incentive to stop spam texts from getting through, since we end up footing the bill for a lot of it, Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson told the Post.