more unwanted stuff on mobile

tkachev

my 11 year old son has recieved one of those hot,sexy chat messages by text.I saw it cos I charged up his phone today and I do check messages as he is new to mobiles(Xmas present so he could contact us in an emergency).It gives u a number to call back on or text STOP to stop them.But does that work?I bet they charge for texting or it might lead to something else....who knows.Should I contact mobile phone company and does anybody know any short cuts to preventing this sort of thing.
Elizabeth

skezier

Hi Elizabeth,

H might have done what I did..... I sent a text to Radio!, got the numbers back to front and was horrified at what came back Stop did work and now I always cross check the number.... The phone provider may have a block they can put on before hand, some phones you can do that with and I had some trouble with someone and they did block all those calls so it might be worth asking.

How did you and Lucy get on? Ok I hope. Cris x

tkachev

Thanx Cris,
What a nightmare all this technology causes! by tomorrow it will be sorted I promise!
Lucy okay at the mo but not much progress with doctor just carry on with the medication.He said its more common than you realise.However feel sad that months/years ahead to deal with it.Thankfully I am better now but remember last year having to stand on painful hip,aching joints changing her every 10 minutes.And getting dragged out of my bed to change her throughout the night was no fun!
hope you are doing okay.Weathers better now
Elizabeth x

frogmorton

Text stop Elizabeth!
I think it works
My kids did something like this (not rude, but for ringtones) and it cost a fortune and they couldn't sort it till i found out for them
You take care
Love
Toni xx

mellman01

It should but contact the mobile company anyway, there is a register you can put your mobile number to that is meant to stop this kind of thing, if your phone is on this list it’s not legal to send unsolicited txt’s, the number should be on the web site of your service provider but you will probably have to ask for it as they tend to hide this little bit of knowledge away in a corner, once registered it takes 30 days to become active.
Bottom line is it’s not into their interest to stop this kind of thing as they take a cut, cynical I know but I have had this same problem with my first contract phone from Vodafone, the first thing I had when I turned it on was a txt from a ring tone company, the first 5 txt’s I had were all from them!.
Vodafone told me they could do nothing about it as they didn’t know who the company was, yeah right I e mailed them threatening legal action unless they told me who the company was as they Vodafone billed me and then paid them anyway. That did it but it took me months to clear it. The problem was I wasn’t allowed to take my old mobile number with me for this contract (another load of old rubbish you can by asking for your PUC and PAC codes) they tell you this as the phone number I had was an old redundant number they had sold on to me.
Bottom line is DONT reply to any txt’s your phone doesn’t recognise and don’t use any site for silly downloads such as ring tones they are a pain in the bum.
And don’t trust mobile providers than you can throw them they are only in existence to get as much money from you by anyway they can legal or otherwise.

tkachev

Thanks all,
I had to warn him that if he got these texts he had to delete them and not show his friends(cos they would probably press reply!)or ignore them and I would delete them.He is only 11 and I am angry that is so easy to access this stuff.At least I got him a pay-as-you-go to avoid high contract charges like Toni 's children.
I will try your suggestions.
Elizabeth

mellman01

Hi Elizabeth, is he getting charged for them I would imagine he is, if so and he has sent STOP as a txt you could say then that it's theft and or harassment, have you tried looking up their number or company name on Google?.

But as I said before the best thing is DONT reply to any txt’s your phone doesn’t recognise and don’t use any site for silly downloads such as ring tones they are a pain in the bum.

tkachev

Dont think we have been charged as we havent actually replied.But for a young boy who is new to the world of mobiles it would be easy for him to reply.Very Easy.I will bear your words in mind.I thought it better to warn him but to also let him know that its not his fault as they send unsolicitored texts to everybody.
E x

livinglegend

It would be best to monitor the amount on the phone to see if anything is being taken from the account. Also, can you look at the account online which would show any unusual activity in that account?

One scam that I am aware of, is that they send out thousands of texts to random mobile numbers. If they get a reply, even 'stop', then they know the number is active and will spam it even more and sell on the number to other spammers.

If nothing has been taken from the account then just delete the message and forget it. If any more come, just delete them.

Joseph 8)

tkachev

Exactly what I was worried about Joseph.I havent checked his account yet as it is a new phone and need time to read the instructions.Thanks everyone for your comments
Elizabeth