A mobile phone spam guru last weekend offered to teach his mobile phone spamming skills in exchange for $1,000.
According to him, the lawsuits against him from US carrier Verizon prove he knows what he’s talking about. Here’s extracts of the email he sent:
“Everyone knows response rates for email spam have gone downhill tremendously over the past two years.
(…)
But cellphones are a different story. Very few people know how to mass broadcast text messages.
But I do. I’ve been doing it for six months now, and the response rate is HUGE. (…) Remember, cellphone carriers ARE NOT ISPS. They don’t know anything about filters! They have a few filters, sure, but they are weak and ineffective.
Bottom line … I am getting sued by two major carriers and must get out of the business. I am willing to pass on the torch to 3 people only. I will give you everything you need to start mass mailing text messages instantly. Here is what I will provide you:
** List of over 10,000,000 cellphone numbers ** Script that will autogenerate ALL the possible cellphone numbers of every major carrier in the US ** Cellphone carrier exchanges (For example, to send a message to sprint phone, you need the 10 digit number plus the “@” sign, plus the carrier exchange at the end, something like [email protected]) ** My personal advice and instruction on how to mass broadcast SMS, tips on the various filters, and technical support
(…) Here is my motto: IF YOU CAN SEND YOUR FRIEND A TEXT MESSAGE, YOU CAN SEND IT TO ONE MILLION FRIENDS JUST AS EASILY.
(…)
I am not a ripoff. Upon request, I can fax you a copy of the 74 page lawsuit against me by Verizon. I have been a bulker since 1996 and focused entirely on text messaging for the past six months.”
The Register reminds that in Europe and the US, junk SMS messages are still a minor nuisance but the issue has already reached serious proportions in Asia where DoCoMo has been forced to cut off 2,173 lines for spam abuse.
As Max suggested, the President of the Italian Council of Ministers, Silvio B., probably went to the Mobile Spam School. But the results of the last European elections in Italy show that mobile spamming does not always pays.