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SPAM on my phone

I’ve started getting SPAM on my phone and I don’t know how to stop it. Some company is sending me around 4 or 5 SMS’s a day containing sports news from the number 50122 and I don’t know how to stop it. I replied saying REMOVE but I got back an SMS telling me if I send a reply back containing certain letters I can also receive news on celebrities, the world and I don’t know what else. Anyone know how I could unsubscribe? Is there a universal reply back I need to send to get off the list that I’m not aware of?

Update: Below is what I get when I send “stop” “remove” or “unsubscribe”



Update2: I noticed with a number of readers that we started getting SPAM after entering the Alfa gas station draw I posted about last week. If you also started receiving SPAM after participating in the Alfa gas station draw leave a comment below.

65 replies on “SPAM on my phone”

Unfortunately Mark, I’m getting the same, and apparently, there is no way to stop these messages, simply because we don’t have a choice..

They can send anything anytime they like, and we don’t even get to stop it. it’s how cell phone companies treat Arab customers.

This is not the case in other western countries, in fact you can sew them for doing stuff like this. (my friend tells me that even in India they can’t send you anything you didn’t ask for).

Let me know if you find a solution.

have u called the mobile service provider (Zain / ViVa) what ever and asked the m to stop these messages your recieving? in case not try it coz it had worked with me 🙂

I’m having the problem with Wataniya, and when I called the customer “service” guy, he didn’t like me asking him to do that, and he had an attitude, but he said YES of course you can cancel these msgs, I thanked him and hung up, I got another Msg 15 minutes later.

Yes, if you check with your mobile provider, they’ll give you a list of the companies\services that are sending you messages.

Do it soon, because those companies routinely add people who didn’t ask to subscribe, then charge ridiculous amounts every week. It’s a shame to pay them anything.

No, not necessarily, it really depends on who’s sending the texts and if they charge for them or not.

Those texting companies, who do charge, don’t have to provide any proof that you actually agreed. Most local\regional companies are honest, it’s the ones internationally that usually abuse this.

Check soon, you’ll know if you’re been charged or not. And just cancel what you don’t need.

yes. i have been charged 10 fils per message i was receiving.But it was some news feed i was receiving. I went to wataniya office to stop these. They asked me for the number that i am getting these messages from. Then they did something on their system and told it wont happen again. But after 15 minutes i got another message. It was a prepaid card and i just cancelled it in the end to escape from this ridiculous thing.

Dear Syed, In india you are protected by law against spam messages and calls. If you receive them you can sue and get a compensation.

I installed iBlackList on a friend’s phone and it works great. I haven’t jailbroken my iPhone yet because I’ll be back in the US soon but I get 1 or 2 spams a day and it drives me crazy. For me though the short codes they send them from always change so blacklisting numbers would be tough.

i have dozens from my service provider, Wataniya.

I’m saving them planning to find a lawyer willing to take a case against them.

Mark you know it’s a list with peoples numbers which is handed down or sold by companies. You work in advertising you should know.
I called zain and asked them to remove me from any list they have. They did. Except for one place that kept sending me text even at 4 am. Luckly it is here in Kwt. I personally went to them and had a serious very serious talk with them and they deleted my info. Also I don’t give my number to the people at the cashiers when they ask ( can I have your mobile number?) I say no!
If they insist… I make up an existing weird number and give them!

There are about 20 different apps that do that on Android. SMSBlocker is my fav.

Poor Apple fanboys and their locked down shitty iOS can’t do nothing until God Steve Jobs says so… LOL

Insult people for their preferences in phones, that’s very mature of you. This isn’t an Android vs. iPhone topic, take your fanboyism (that you’re insulting) else where.

I enjoy my iPhone quite a lot actually. Love all the games I have.

By the way. I hope you’re not a Twitter user, because a lot of Android accounts are getting hacked.

So how about you enjoy your shitty phone, and I’ll enjoy mine 🙂

Someone’s getting defensive about their iPhone. Haha.
Cry all you want – as long as you got your games to console you, who cares about a detective operating system??
Also, why is it that when you comment, you always attack people?? Cuz it’s ur brother’s blog??
You are a very bitter person !!

I am with Viva and get these multiple unwanted messages first in Arabic and then in English. I called them up and asked them to stop it and they said they can’t do it! I won’t mind receiving these messages if I’m paid to receive them, same way the mobile company charges me for sending my messages. Sadly I am a consumer and they are the supplier and there is not much I can do about it, except wait for the day when we can keep the number but change the service provider…

Aha!!! If you combine and rearrange the letters “R,K,B,S” it will appear as “B,R,K,S” while S=ص or .. “B,S,K,R” but not sure about that one.. Or .. “K,B,R,S” which means the thing you get from groceries, which I have no idea what it is,

I guess I must be the lucky one that I don’t get these messages. I have had this line for 6 years now and can’t recall getting one of these spam messages. As others suggested do not volunteer your mobile number.

Mark did you start getting these only in Lebanon? Could be they are targeting roaming customers

it all started after i sent the alfa petrol code message to that number .. ( which btw they dont have the winners names put up anywhere )

Yeah same here! These messages started once I came to Lebanon and before I came I sent msgs to Alfa. I hope they didn’t sell our numbers! Anyone getting spam from the exact number as the one they’re sending me? If yes and u also entered the Alfa draw then we can establish the source

I’m receiving the spam but I’m not alfa sub and I didn’t send any message to them / I had thought that I must call viva but the spam just stopped by itself / BTW I like your blog

Mark if you dont care about Ads in general you can call your service provider requesting to deny Ads. This basically will stop anything not coming from a regular number (ie. less than 7 digits numbers and TEXT numbers such as the name of a shop etc )

From my experience: Zain will [and can] only stop messages coming from numbers starting with 9. Zain cannot stop SMS coming from other numbers. Even then, you have to visit Zain Head Office and make a complaint.

I got sport news msgs after send Alfa
Called zain after few days
The guy told me its free for the 1st week , then i will be charged 1/2 kd per week
He asked me if i want ti cancel the service and he did it

Becarefull stop it by calling ur provider or u will be charged

U just need to call ur service provider they will block it, had the same issue before asked zain to stop it and it worked, but never permenant atleast once a year some gets to add me on the spam list u just need to call again

The service providers don’t do anything. I’ve tried with Zain for years. Who do you think is selling the spammers the lists?

If anyone starts a class action lawsuit (if it is possible), count me in.

Hey Mark
I hope you are doing fine and having fun in Lebanon … just as an advice … remove your SIM card if you can and try to get a new phone line while you are in Lebanon because Kuwait phone companies sucks and they might charge your for overseas SMS and they might say that you are the one who subscribed … I have no idea how to overcome this as i didn’t face this problem but just wanted to help 😉

That’s true… Wataniya charged my dad something like 150 fils for every roaming SMS he received….including ones that they’ve sent.
Robbing ba$tard$!!

i sent the Alfa message as well, but have received not spam; no more than the usual crap from Wataniya. is there any way to stop that from coming in? ive called up the company and been gput on and hold and circled around from everyone from the customer service guy to the teaboy! and no dice.

its always send this number to enter this draw or what not.

i guess the only thing you can do with spam msgs is delete them, so long as u are not fool enough to fall for the “you have won a Mercedes in Germany, call to collect your prize”, even tho you never entered a contest, and have never been to Germany.

Just an update: The spam just suddenly stopped a few days back. My guess is someone must have seen this post and investigated and then shut them down?

my phone number got bombed with sms spam the last 2 months

so i did just call 107 about how to stop that ads

the solution is:

write new sms to number 99999 contains: ad off

goodluck geeks

I confirm it, Thanks Mohammed, was annoyed with so many hala feb promotional messages! Btw, works on both corporate and pre-paid lines.

regards,

rt

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