The Menace of unsolicited text messages

It has become worrisome the rate, way and manner at which unsolicited text messages are sent by telecoms operators in the country. Even at the dead end of the night, one cannot have his or her peace. In the middle of a sleep, a text message wakes you up only to discover that it is unsolicited as usual. This unsolicited disturbance sometimes robs you of your sleep for the rest of the night. Pathetic!

The contents of some of these unsolicited SMSes can be so annoying and irrelevant to you sometimes while other times it contains useful and up building information ranging from health, sports education, politics, romance, mutual benefit, promotions, bonuses, telecoms e.t.c.

A very disheartening aspect of this unsolicited text messages is the ability to use it to lure or scam unsuspecting innocent subscribers. Yes, unsolicited SMSes can be used to lure subscribers to opt-in for a service of which they continually deduct money daily or each time recharges are made. A very good example of this was sent to the mobile number 08099676006 and goes thus: 08099676006 , we have SMARTPHONES to give right now! Reply with ok to claim it. An ok to this message will automatically activate you for a service of which money will always be deducted on subsequent recharges made.

Also, unsolicited SMSes can be sent to scam subscribers. For instance, receiving a text message inviting you for a job interview or a congratulatory message indicating that you have won 1million naira from a lottery. A very good one going round recently is receiving a message notifying you that your ATM card has been deactivated, call a certain number for help. Subscribers who play along with such messages end up getting scammed

To stop this menace of unsolicited text messages, the Nigeria Communications Commision (NCC) had to intervene. Recently, it gave a directive to protect the right of the subscribers from unsolicited text messages. Subscribers now have the right to permit or bar any unsolicited SMSes from entering their mobile phones. This became possible when the NCC unveiled the ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ facility. All telecoms operators in the country are required to comply with this directive with immediate effect and activate this service on their platform. Subscribers can opt-in for this service irrespective of their network by sending ‘STOP’ to 2442. 

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