Spam Text Messages: How to protect yourself from Spam Text Messages in 2022

Spam Text Messages: How to protect yourself from Spam Text Messages in 2022

The word spam comes from the canned meat maker of the same name in the 1930s. It stands for ‎spiced ham – spicy ham. After the Second World War, the company had a surplus of these products, which they decided to sell through aggressive marketing. Intrusive advertising was everywhere: on television, radio, shop windows, newspapers. This irritated buyers, and the name of the company became a household name. In this article, we will explain why spam text messages is sent and how to deal with it.

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What is spam text message and why is it sent?

Spam text messages is the sending of letters or spam text messages in instant messengers and social networks without the consent of the user. “Junk” spam text messages irritate consumers and create a negative image of the company. Spam also includes promotional or fraudulent calls.

A common example of spam text messages in business is sending out template sales pitches and promotional materials to increase sales. Users perceive this as an imposition of unnecessary goods or services.

Spam mailings are also done to gain access to money or personal data of the recipient. These are letters with viral links or documents, information about winning the lottery, fake bank statements. 

Is spamming a business worth it?

Companies send out spam mailings in the hope of attracting the attention of the audience. However, its effectiveness is low, because mail services maintain their reputation: they recognize spam and put it in the appropriate folder. Most likely, the user will not notice the letter.

Even if the spam text message has reached the user, he may have a negative attitude towards spam, and he will not follow the link. Conversion to a call is also unlikely: it is unlikely that someone will call dubious numbers. And an uncoordinated “intrusion” into the contacts of a potential client will only harm the company’s reputation.  

Email newsletters are regulated by the ” Law on Advertising ” and the ” Law on the Protection of Personal Data “. If the client did not consent to the mailing, he can contact the FAS, and then the company faces a lawsuit and a fine.

If you don’t have a goal of spamming, but your emails still end up in the Spam folder, read our recommendations in the article Why emails end up in spam and how to fix it .

Advertising can waste money or lead to untargeted traffic. End-to-end Calltouch analytics will help to recognize this. The service will prepare convenient reports, tell you which advertising channels are working effectively and which are not, where every ruble of the advertising budget goes.

Types of spam

The purpose of any spam is to make money. Senders can enrich themselves legally and illegally, and are therefore classified as safe and dangerous spam.

Safe spam ” makes ” money by legally selling goods or services. This type of spam mailing includes: 

• Emails, spam text messages in instant messengers or social networks with an offer to buy a product, purchase a service. This is a way to promote a product for many companies.
• manipulative spam text messages. These are compromising evidence on competitors, pseudoscientific evidence about the need for any product. Such spam text messages form public opinion and can indirectly harm both buyers and the market.
• “Letters of Happiness”. For example: “Forward this letter to 10 friends, and your relatives will be happy and healthy.” The purpose of these letters is to expand the contact base.

Dangerous types of spam mailings:

• Phishing emails. Fraudsters send fake spam text messages from a bank or tax office, urging them to follow a link to an “official” website and fill out personal information. 
• Virus letters. The user activates the malware when they click on a link or open a file. Due to viruses, personal data is leaked, including user passwords.
• Lottery winnings. The user pays commissions to get an imaginary win. As a result, the amount of “commission” is charged to scammers, who then do not get in touch. One example of such spam is letters about inheritance, for which money is required.
• Fake polls. The mechanism is the same as for winning: scammers offer to take a survey for a fee, and the user pays a commission to complete it.  ezaaz protect from Spam Text Messages

Spam channels

Spammers make mailings via instant messengers, mail, telephone and social networks. The content of spam varies depending on the transmission channel:

• Email-mailing – letters with promotions, great offers, malicious materials. 
• SMS-mailing – spam text messages with store promotions, lottery winnings.
• Phone calls – from real and fake banks, invitations to SPA-salons. Real banks spam with offers of credit cards and services, fake banks notify that they are trying to steal money from the client’s card. Spas offer free treatments and then sell beauty boxes for hefty sums. 
• Comments on publications in social networks – advertising of goods and services.
• Spam text messages in instant messengers and social networks. Messengers advertise banned goods, social networks hack accounts and send out requests for financial assistance or invitations to vote in contests.

How spammers find email addresses

People leave contact information when ordering goods in an online store, booking a table in a cafe, ordering a taxi, in mobile applications of restaurants and retailers, when filling out a feedback form on websites. Operators of companies store personal data and , by law , cannot disclose it and use it to send spam.

According to the Federal Law “On Personal Data” dated July 27, 2006 N 152-FZ , operators publish an open information processing policy: what data is collected, where it is stored, for how long and for what purposes. Unscrupulous companies transfer personal information of customers to other organizations free of charge (for example, subsidiaries) or for a fee – for marketing purposes. 

Non-obvious ways to replenish contact databases:

• Forming an email database using random generators – the spammer enters a common name, and the program generates possible spelling variations. B2B companies use programs that look up addresses by keywords (first name, last name, company) in open sources in order to find customers.
• Data hacking is the leakage of contact data from a user’s personal devices or bulk data from company servers. For example, in August 2020, the banking data of 55,000 customers of the Joom marketplace was leaked to the network . Fraudsters sell contact databases through the darknet – a hidden and anonymous Internet network, an electronic “black market”. 
• Monitoring of free ads or sites with vacancies. For example, on hh.ru, the user indicates the visibility of the resume – to client companies, selected companies, via a direct link. Previously, hh allowed showing resumes to the entire Internet: the function was removed to reduce spam calls.

How to disable spam text message

Users disable spam Text Message on each channel separately.

1. If you receive a spam text message or email, mark it as spam or click Unsubscribe. 
2. If spam haunts social networks, prohibit the community from sending spam text messages, blacklist those users who abuse mailing lists. 
3. If spam on the phone (calls, spam text message) – add the number to the black list. 

How to protect yourself from spam text message

Here are the basic anti-spam rules: 

• Observe the “incognito” mode when visiting Internet resources.
• Do not publish contacts on public sites. 
• Read the terms of personal data processing before filling out the feedback forms.
• Check checkboxes with checkmarks in feedback forms, when registering on websites or in loyalty programs. 
• Connect automatic caller ID. This function is provided by large companies, for example, MTS, Yandex, Tinkoff. 
• Revoke permission to process personal data from unscrupulous companies – the company describes the revocation process in the processing policy. 
• Choose mail operators with spam Text Message filters – Yandex, Gmail. 
• Create a second mailbox and use it for feedback forms on websites. 
• Do not reply to spam text message or click on the links provided in the email.

A popular spam text message method in business is call scamming. They are used by competitors, unreliable contractors and advertising platforms. Such calls consume the budget and take up the time of employees. The Calltouch Antifraud service will help protect you from inappropriate calls.

Summarize

Despite the fact that many services pay attention to data security, spam text message methods are improving. Modern users cannot be called naive – they are aware of the dangers of spam and can distinguish between “junk” spam text messages. Nevertheless, spam is becoming more and more invisible, and its distributors resort to psychological tricks. For example, imaginary bank employees call in the evening on weekdays, report a hacked account and insist on the immediate disclosure of data. Tired and unprepared for the conversation, the user does not have time to think about what became the target of scammers, and voluntarily provides personal information. 

You can protect yourself from spam text message if you use anti-spam programs and services, carefully read the contracts and fields for filling in data on sites, and also do not provide personal information to dubious companies.