With the avalanche of unsolicited, annoying and silent calls to our home and office phones, we are now receiving unwanted text messages (SMS) about claiming compensation for the motor accident that we did not have, claiming PPI for bank loans than ever before. We open and of course unwanted phone calls that try to sell us something like a phone upgrade from a telecommunications network that we don’t use.
The big companies behind these unsolicited text messages don’t actually have your mobile phone number on file. They use a very clever and complex software program that randomly creates millions of mobile numbers every few minutes and that software in turn will send a text message to all the numbers it generates. Of course, some succeed and others do not.
If you reply to them with the word STOP, that confirms to the sender that their mobile phone number is active and most of the time you will receive even more text messages and they will add your number to their database and most of the times. , they will sell that database to other providers to further increase their profits.
There are two or even three steps you can take to stop these unwanted calls and texts.
First of all, DO NOT ever reply to them. Don’t even send the word STOP. Just ignore and delete them and you will most likely never hear from them again.
Second, you can forward the SMS to your network provider at 7726. All network providers use the same contact number and this number can be easily remembered as it is the numbers on your phone keypad that spell out the word SPAM .
Third, some smartphone apps are available to combat these annoying SMS messages and calls. These apps will block calls and messages, but you will need to check with your relevant phone provider if they have an app available and if they charge for it.
Your help in combating these unwanted and irrelevant text messages will help all mobile phone users across the country. It’s quick and easy to report these troublesome businesses, and if you can do a little to help, the mobile phone population will be grateful for your support.
The more we report on these scam companies, the faster they will learn and hopefully put an end to these messages once and for all.
Hopefully, sometime in the future, all mobile phones will have a built-in phone number blocker which will be a great relief to all mobile owners.