Next threat - mobile spam

6 Dec 2011

As mobile communication has grown in popularity, mobile spam, or m-spam, is similarly increasing. M-spam is currently nowhere close to the problem of email spam but as mobile devices become the primary way that people communicate and access the internet, it is logical to assume that m-spam will increase.

Chair of the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of SA (WASPA) Code of Conduct Working Group, Russel Stromin, says, "It is vital that the industry and consumers of mobile content and applications, work hard to create an anti-spam culture right now. We all need to cooperate on ways to stem the tide before m-spam swamps us all and degrades what is a brilliant marketing and communications medium."

Many people find m-spam much more offensive than e-mail spam because the mobile device is carried on one's person and therefore much more personal. Unwanted and uninvited communication tends to feel much more intrusive and that is understandable.

Business tips

Commercial SMS messaging in South Africa is regulated by the industry organisation WASPA. Unfortunately, some messaging providers send messages via unauthorised routes in order to bypass the jurisdiction of WASPA. Tracking down the origin of SMS, using this kind of routing is hard, so the originators are seldom held accountable.

Therefore, businesses should only use messaging providers that are members of WASPA, which are listed on its website. Its members are also required to display their membership on their websites.

To ensure that messages are sent via a legitimate route, businesses should also verify that the originating number of messages is registered at www.smscode.co.za/index.asp. Legitimate numbers will always be local, using the +27 South African dialling prefix.

Consumers tips

When consumers receive commercial SMS messages, they should also check the SMS code website, to see whether a registered number was used. If not, they should take the matter up with the business and urge it to use a member of WASPA.

"Pressure from customers is the surest way to change behaviours because the customer is still king," notes Stromin.

"If all businesses use only the association's members for messaging and only send via registered originating numbers, the association will be able to regulate the commercial SMS messaging space much better, which will increase the value of SMS messaging for all," he concludes.

For more, go to www.waspa.org.za.