GSMA is recommending a SMS spam reporting system program to mobile phone operators to curb spam SMS which delivery to mobile phone subscribers.
The GSMA along with its partner Cloudmark, which makes messaging security software for operators, concluded a trial in December of an SMS spam reporting system that analyzed SMSes and aggregated reports of abuse. AT&T, Bell Mobility, KT (Korea Telecom), SFR, Sprint, Vodafone and the Korean Internet & Security Agency participated in the pilot.
Users could forward suspect spam using the short code “7726,” which spells spam numerically, said Alan Ranger, vice president for Cloudmark’s mobile marketing.
SMS spammers will often buy lots of prepaid SIM cards and send messages until the balance runs out. The problem got so bad in China that most SIM cards are only allowed to send 1,000 SMSes, Ranger said.
Some of the worst locales for SMS spam are South Korea and China. A Chinese mobile phone user may get upwards of 30 spam SMSes a day, while those in South Korea report thousands of spam SMSes a day.
