Spam is bothersome. However, many spam messages are sent with malicious intent: Phishing, viruses and more are spread via spam. You may know this mostly from your email inbox. But spam also occurs via SMS. We have compiled the most important information here. How can you avoid becoming a spammer yourself?
Is SMS spam a problem at all?
In many countries spam via SMS is prevented by strict rules. In the United States, for example, sending an SMS without the recipient’s opt-in costs a fine between 500 and 1500 dollars – per message, that is. This can be expensive, especially for mass SMS messages, which are often used for spam. In other countries, network operators automatically filter spam messages. However, there are always black sheep who try to bypass these rules. Most of the time they find some gaps – or simply ignore the rules. Even though SMS have a legitimate reputation for being more respectable than e. g. e-mail, they are also increasingly used for phishing and spam.
