Reporting SMS spam [ Edited ]

[SethBr]

I just received two SMS messages from {Personal content removed for safety} offering debt cancellation.

They are illegal spam, and I want my charges for the SMS refunded.

ATT does not appear to have a way to do that on their site; searching for one only returned this forum.

That's a good way to lose customers.

[UNSC_REACH]

You should text back "STOP" to the number that texted you, and/or call the corporation.

[larryjkl]

That is not very useful. The whole point is that it's SPAM; it's not something that people are signing up for. So telling them to text STOP is kind of useless.

AT&T: where is the easy way to report SPAM SMS messages. It's not that different than email, and almost every provider has a way to report SPAM. Why are you so far behind?

[erichamion]

Controling Cell Phone Spam

“If I get a spam message, what should I do?”

Help us stop spam on your phone. Text us the actual spam 

message to short code 7726 (SPAM) to start an investigation.

“What can I do if I get charged 

for spam?”

If spam has become a problem for you, simply let us know 

and we’ll work with you to resolve the issue. It’s impossible 

for us to determine if a message is unsolicited unless you 

bring it to our attention.

There's more advice on that page, but I believe those snippets address the questions of reporting and of charges.  "Let us know" generally means call Customer Care at 1-800-331-0500.

You may want to take a look at the "5 ways to control SMS and MMS" section of the page, as well.  If the message is coming from a short code (a short number rather than a 10-digit phone number), then texting STOP as posted earlier should be effective.  If it's coming from an email address, you can block all email-to-SMS (but consider first whether anybody might legitimately send you SMS by email - it's unlikely but not impossible).

[abobotek]

AT&T has SMS spam reporting.  To report SMS spam, forward the text message to short code 7726 (that's S-P-A-M on the keypad). 

[NCBuyer]

Are you kidding?   You could not PAY ME ENOUGH to reply back to these leeches.   The first thing that you DO NOT DO is reply back to them in any way.  I know AT&T customer service says to reply "STOP" but that is horrendously wrong advice.  I wonder if their CEO knows that bad advice is being given out.  A simple search will tell you to NEVER respond to these spammers, ever.

[lezah2]

I have recieved a message like this and what I did is I just reply a STOP message to that number.

[Jul1ana]

So I called AT&T.  Here's the email address: 'scam@abuse-att.net'

[Jul1ana]

AT&T's email address for reporting/forwarding the SPAM is: 'scam@abuse-att.net'

[yogranny]

Hopefully this also applies to we, the VICTIMS, who are NON-ATT users, but get spammed by Cingular/ATT people!

Thanks for the info!

If a phone is a "burn phone" being used for spam (which is the case of the person spamming me), then Cingular/ATT should shut it off immediately (if not sooner)!

Since I am NOT a Cingular user, but I am being cell-spammed by a Cingular user, all I can do is send the spam to that email address you provided and let them know this person is spamming - AND they (Cingular/ATT) can search the 'Net for things like, "Who calls me from (409nnnnnnn), where that would be the phone number that I report, and they can see for themselves MULTIPLE people are being cell-spammed by this Cingular cell phone, which likely was bought as a 'burn phone' JUST FOR CELL SPAMMING!

[NiremorFL]

Customer service never said stop.... Read the above comments. You text spam and forward the message

[JoeBeach]

Unfortunately i sent "stop" without thinking and I should know better. I followed up with the message to att (spam) and there was an auto response asking for the phone number of the offender, which I sent them.
{edited to comply with guidelines}

[setp2426]

DO NOT reply STOP.  When you reply STOP all you are doing is confirming that your number is a working number.  Then that company sells your information to another company at a higher price becase they have confirmed that it is a working number.  Replying STOP ensures that you will get more an more spam texts.  Forward your message to 7726 to report the message as spam.

[pankilmpatel]

Also forwarding to 7726 is free of charge, so don't worry about charges. I just forwarded 2 spam messages. If we all do than at least common message should stop

[Millz34]

When you receive messages as such it is usually because at some point in time you went through some type of offer online and had to input your telephone number in it and now all of their partners have your info. I know that this is a headache but usually texting STOP is effective. I've never had any further issues after texting STOP.

[chillipepper]

What if you get a message from a number like 4100000055 AT&T does not recogises this number as valid and i keep getting 2-3 spam msg everyday even after forwarding it to 7726 and i have my number listed in NDCL.

[AdrianSanMiguel]

AT&T has SMS spam reporting.  To report SMS spam, forward the text message to short code 7726 (that's S-P-A-M on the keypad).  You are not responding to the person who sent you the SPAM, you are reporting it to AT&T.

[rfaltesek]

I reported the spam to AT&T at 7726, as directed on this page: http://www.wireless.att.com/support_static_files/KB/svc/documents/1220912515172.Anti-spam%20FAQ%2008...

I also replied with BLOCK and another with STOP, also as recommended on that page. I was hopeing that would be used by AT&T to block the number, but am now wondering if that is correct. I agree with someone else that asking the spammer to stop sending spam is worse than useless. If AT&T is not using these responses, then telling us to do that seems wrong.

[mrskay662000]

I just talked to tech support at Verizon by dialing *611 and got on the line with someone pretty quickly.

He put a service blocker on my phone (I kept getting "offers for an ipad with a code) and told me that because he did that, now I'm able to reply to the texts "STOP" and it will stop because of the systems the spammers use.

I would recommend everyone do that. Block subscription services that send spam because the techie told me what they do is get the valid number, and if you don't respond, they'll latch onto the number and charge you for some "subscription".  Though I think that's now illegal based on a couple of recent class action suits. 

Regardless.

I hope this works.

Good luck everyone.

Since ATT&T doesn't want to accept responsibility for their phones I guess I'll stick with Verizon even though they charge more.

[BellSystem302]

ATT has a feature to block numbers.  The only problem is it will not block text messages with or without images from valid phone numbers. It will only block a voice caller.  It was explained to me that text messages are delivered via the internet, not via the phone network. Seems they missed the boat on this one especially since the service costs $6.95 a month.

[lenirdrake]

How do you FORWARD a text message?

[KGP59]

To forward a text message (iPhone), select the message sent to you by clicking on it and going to the reading pane. Click edit in the top right corner. Select the radio button to the left of the unsolicited message and then select "Forward" in the lower right corner. Enter 7726 in the To field. After sending the message you will get an SMS confirmation from AT&T asking you to reply (to the confirmation message) with the number that the unsolicited message came from.