Unwanted text messages

How do I find out who is sending me strange text messages? They are something like you would read in a fortune cookie. The From just says 76284. How do I find out who is sending these and how do I block them?


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"Me" <me@notme.org> wrote in message
news:dutQj.32371$tG6.3213@bignews1.bellsouth.net.. .
> How do I find out who is sending me strange text messages? They are
> something like you would read in a fortune cookie. The From just says
> 76284. How do I find out who is sending these and how do I block them?


Sounds like you've been signed up for one of those $9.99/month "Joke a Day"
or daily horoscope services. First, I'd text "STOP" to that number, then
call your carrier (AT&T I assume) and find out who "76284" is and tell them
you didn't sign up for it.

Me wrote:
> How do I find out who is sending me strange text messages? They are something like you would read in a fortune cookie. The From just says 76284. How do I find out who is sending these and how do I block them?
>
>


Some of us keep hoping and praying AT&T will care enough about their
customers to develop a way for you to screen this trash without forcing
you to beg for your nanny's help. OTOH, your nanny is paid to let this
shit happen for as long as you tolerate it, so that ought to tell you
how much interest there is to stop it.

--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'

At 25 Apr 2008 22:35:17 -0500 Jer wrote:

> Some of us keep hoping and praying AT&T will care enough about
> their customers to develop a way for you to screen this trash without
> forcing you to beg for your nanny's help. OTOH, your nanny is paid
> to let this shit happen for as long as you tolerate it, so that ought to
> tell you how much interest there is to stop it.


I just read in RCR Wireless news that Sprint is trying something interesting.
They've issued customer service guidelines to these short-code service
clowns, particularly in the areas of ease of cancellation, issuing refunds,
and preventing fraudulent signups (many of these scammers have no
verification process- you enter ANY mobile number on their sign-up webpage
and that number is subscribed, without any attempt to verify if you own the
number or have the authority to signup, i.e. over 18, etc.) Those that
comply to Sprint's satisfaction will get an extra 10% cut of their revenue
share, and the ones that don't, get dropped from Sprint's billing system.

While Sprint loves the revenue these jerks generate as much as every other
carrier, they seem to feel that it isn't worth p*ssing off their (already
fragile!) customer base for a few lousy bucks.

Hopefully the other carriers will follow suit with similar plans...

"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec@AmericaOnLine.com> wrote in message
news:futut8$2d6$1@aioe.org...
>
> "Me" <me@notme.org> wrote in message
> news:dutQj.32371$tG6.3213@bignews1.bellsouth.net.. .
>> How do I find out who is sending me strange text messages? They are
>> something like you would read in a fortune cookie. The From just says
>> 76284. How do I find out who is sending these and how do I block them?
>
>
> Sounds like you've been signed up for one of those $9.99/month "Joke a
> Day" or daily horoscope services. First, I'd text "STOP" to that number,
> then call your carrier (AT&T I assume) and find out who "76284" is and
> tell them you didn't sign up for it.
>
>
>

If this is one of those "Joke A Day" or like services, you can go to
https://cingular-oac.qpass.com/oac/html/signin.do to find the subscription
charges and cancel them. During this process you can also obtain a refund on
some of the subscription charges. My son had a problem with a service that
would not stop. I did it here and never had a problem again. After entering
your number a text message will be sent to your phone for the code then you
enter it at the web page and see all you want to know. If there is no
subscriptions or pay per download there will be nothing listed.. We all fear
giving out our phone number to some sites so I would recommend calling AT&T
to verify the validity of this web page. This is part of Direct Billing so
if you don't want to call just do a search on AT&T pages looking for
unwanted data or text messages. Good luck.

JAW

On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:07:37 -0400, "Me" <me@notme.org> wrote:

>How do I find out who is sending me strange text messages?

It's "Twitter" and you are getting nailed with Twitter "tweets".

http://tinyurl.com/yq6oo7

[...]

How do I stop getting ALL twitter notifications?
Send OFF from your phone, IM, or any other device to stop
getting Twitter updates at any time.

[...]

Twitter's short codes are as follows.

[...]

We currently have three short codes and one long code for
those who twitter internationally.

* In the US, use 40404.
* In Canada, use 21212.
* In India, use 5566511.
* Anywhere else, use +44 7624 801423

[...]

Hope that helps.