Chain mail has come in a variety of forms over the years, from handwritten chain letters to e-mail spam. But the latest version, chain text messaging, unlike its annoying cousins, does something that they do not: incur a charge to the receiver for receipt of the message. Thankfully, unsolicited chain text messaging is illegal. Follow these steps to receive a credit and try to reduce future spam attempts.
Instructions
1. Text the sender with the words "QUIT," "STOP" or "CEASE." By doing this, you create a "paper trail" of your attempts to stop unsolicited texts.
2. Call your service provider and advise them that you were hit with chain text messages and that you also responded to the chain as advised in Step 1. Ask your provider to block the sender and to credit your account for both the unwanted texts and your response.
3. File a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by following the link in the Resources section. Although this action does not help you to retrieve lost monies from your service provider, the FCC will impose fines or issue citations to any company that has violated the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, the National Do Not Call Registry, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act or any of their other related regulations.
4. If all else fails, sue the chain texters and/or your telephone service provider. Cell phone service providers typically credit the monies without any issues, but they typically can only block unsolicited messages from e-mail addresses. If the chain texter is sending chain text messages from a cell phone, then you may have to sue to force the sender to stop.
5. Register your information at the National Do Not Call Registry by following the link in the Resources section. Companies must remove you from their call lists (this also includes text messages) within 31 days of registration.
Tags: service provider, text messages, Call Registry, chain text, chain text