Text Messaging SPAM

I called the company and tried to get some info. They gave out very little.

The person who answered the phone stated their name was Lisa (both times
I called). I asked for the name of the company and she stated it was
"the Pheonix Company" and that they were in RI. A reverse trace found
nothing on the number (800-494-7185), or could I find anything on the
Pheonix Company listed for RI.

If you call, pressing 2 will put you through so you don't have to listen
to the winded message. I suggest you call and ask as many question as
you can think of to tie up their phone line (it's their dime).

A call to sprint informed me that these messages will be blocked in 48
hours.

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› See More: Text Messaging SPAM

Jim <""jimreid(\"nycap.rr.com"> wrote in message news:<cd31c.104717$%[email protected]>...
> I called the company and tried to get some info. They gave out very little.
>
> The person who answered the phone stated their name was Lisa (both times
> I called). I asked for the name of the company and she stated it was
> "the Pheonix Company" and that they were in RI. A reverse trace found
> nothing on the number (800-494-7185), or could I find anything on the
> Pheonix Company listed for RI.
>
> If you call, pressing 2 will put you through so you don't have to listen
> to the winded message. I suggest you call and ask as many question as
> you can think of to tie up their phone line (it's their dime).
>
> A call to sprint informed me that these messages will be blocked in 48
> hours.

My question is,

These people are sending out text messages, in essence, the receivers
pay for them, either though their vision plan, SMS or whatever.

So, the receiver is paying fir their advertising.

Isn't that illegal?

"TechGeek" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Jim <""jimreid(\"nycap.rr.com"> wrote in message
news:<cd31c.104717$%[email protected]>...
> > I called the company and tried to get some info. They gave out very
little.
> >
> > The person who answered the phone stated their name was Lisa (both times
> > I called). I asked for the name of the company and she stated it was
> > "the Pheonix Company" and that they were in RI. A reverse trace found
> > nothing on the number (800-494-7185), or could I find anything on the
> > Pheonix Company listed for RI.
> >
> > If you call, pressing 2 will put you through so you don't have to listen
> > to the winded message. I suggest you call and ask as many question as
> > you can think of to tie up their phone line (it's their dime).
> >
> > A call to sprint informed me that these messages will be blocked in 48
> > hours.
>
> My question is,
>
> These people are sending out text messages, in essence, the receivers
> pay for them, either though their vision plan, SMS or whatever.
>
> So, the receiver is paying fir their advertising.
>
> Isn't that illegal?

I don't know if this falls under FTC telemarketing regulation or not -- so I
don't know if this will help -- but I filed a complaint at
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01 which is the
address for reporting telemarketing issues.

As far as I'm concerned, this is even worse than land-line telemarketing,
because this probably costs more people $$.

"Karen in MN" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
> I don't know if this falls under FTC telemarketing regulation or not -- so I
> don't know if this will help -- but I filed a complaint at
> https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01 which is the
> address for reporting telemarketing issues.
>

Wether or not it falls under that regualtion or not, if enough people
complain, maybe the FCC will step in.

Thank you for the link.

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TechGeek <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> My question is,
>
> These people are sending out text messages, in essence, the receivers
> pay for them, either though their vision plan, SMS or whatever.
>
> So, the receiver is paying fir their advertising.
>
> Isn't that illegal?

Very much so ... in the same way as spamming fax machines is illegal.
The same law applies.

- --

Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1

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