after switching to Verizon from another carrier I recently got my

bill. I was shocked to find out I am getting text message spammed

at my cell number 800 times in one month and was unaware I was

receiving these messages. I talked to customer service and they

refuse to take this off my bill. Trying to say I signed up for a

joke of the day or hororscope website. Well some of these messages

were 4-5 per minute. Of course they say it was impossible for

somebody to spam my phone number however upon doing a google

search for this number I see I am not the first one this has

happened to. This is a sample of what my bill looks like:
10/26 8:06 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:06 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:06 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:08 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:15 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:15 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:15 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:16 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:16 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:16 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10
10/26 8:16 PM 0080001146 Received Domestic - Text $ 0.10

of course this goes on for 95 pages for a total of 800 to 1000

something messages they are holding me responsible for any

suggestions? I found this on a website called ripoff reports:
I just had a very lengthy conversation with Verizon Customer

Service. I gave them all of the information that I had gained and

they gave me some helpful information as well.

One thing the customer service rep told me was that these

companies have a way of accessing the databases of wireless phone

companies and that is how things like this can get started.

Verizon actually told one of these type companies, Blinko, to stop

sending text messages to its customers unless the customer

authorized it. Verizon had received thousands of complaints which

were documented in their computer system.

At the end, Verizon did issue me a courtesy credit of the total

billed from April and May 2006, plus what is on my current bill,

which was $29.97. They also credited my bill for the $5.00 late

fee.

I do not know about other cell phone carriers, but Verizon can

issue a credit for these charges.

Moral of the story: anyone, regardless of who your cell phone

company is, needs to immediately call and dispute these "mystery"

charges that are not authorized. Unless a lot of customers call

and/or e-mail to complain about it, the carrier will likely do

nothing about it. Your carrier has a much louder voice with these

companies than you as an individual do.
I not only did not open these I never received them on my phone. I

only have 3-4 people that I text message too and these text

messages were supposedly comming in at the same time. with the

amount of messages the bill says I have recieved 50 to 60 with in

a 4-5 hour period you know I would have known about them. And

Verizon is smiling all the way to the bank. They already have

lawsuits against spammers to there text messaging database,

however they refuse to say that it is possible "you had to sign up

or give your number out on a third party website"However read this

article I found on the net:
| What's this?




Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
• Profile
• E-mail
"U just Won," the cell phone text message reads, according to

Verizon Wireless. "You just won a cruise to the Bahamas." It then

tells the recipient to call a toll-free number, apparently to

claim the prize.

But the messages are spam, Verizon says, and it is suing to stop

them.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, Verizon

alleges that nearly 100,000 copies of the spam messages have been

sent by Florida-based Passport Holidays. Verizon is asking the

court for an injunction to stop the firm from sending the

messages, and is seeking financial compensation for damages.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

The messages began flowing on Oct. 11, the lawsuit claims. Verizon

has received "numerous complaints from customers," according to

the lawsuit, and faced spam-related expenses of $150,000.

"This is another effort to protect our customers' privacy,"

Verizon spokesman Tom Pica said.

Attempts to obtain a comment from Passport Holidays were

unsuccessful. When MSNBC.com called the toll-free number included

in the text message, a man who identified himself as Armando

Acosta said he refused to answer any questions on the matter.

Cell phone spam is trouble
This is the second time Verizon has filed a lawsuit against

alleged cell phone spammers. In July 2004, Verizon sued a Rhode

Island firm, alleging it sent out 4.5 million unsolicited mobile

phone text message ads to its customers.

Text message spam is particularly troublesome because many cell

phone users must pay to receive messages. But while spam fighters

have fretted about potential problems for years, so far mobile

spam has not amounted to much more than a nuisance in the U.S.

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission issued an order

banning most forms of mobile phone spam, and the 1991 Telephone

Consumer Protection Act prohibits use of cell phones for

unsolicited advertisements.

There are some signs of bigger problems overseas, where legitimate

text message advertising is more popular. Last year, for example,

the Reuters news service reported that Japanese firm DoCoMo had

cut off 2,173 cell phone lines because of spam abuse.

Messages sent in sequence
Verizon's lawsuit against Passport says about one-quarter of the

alleged spam messages were sent to sequential sets of phone

numbers within an area code -- 609-000-0001, then 609-000-0002,

etc. The text messages were sent fast; up to 200 messages per

minutes, Verizon says. And the winter-wary Northeast was

apparently targeted for the tropical cruise ads: about one in 7

were sent to New Jersey area codes.

The "From:" field in the message was blank, leading to a flurry of

customer service phone calls. Those cost the Verizon about $6.50

each to field, the lawsuit says, and most customers demand refunds

for the cost of receiving the message.

The messages also employed "techniques calculated to camouflage

their true identities," in an attempt to prevent Verizon

investigators from uncovering the source of the spam, the lawsuit

claims.

On Oct. 30, a Verizon employee received one of the messages. When

the employee called, she was told Passport Holiday had "used a

list that it had of Verizon Wireless and Spring customers to send

text messages."

Opt-in defense
Later, after receiving a complaint from Verizon's legal

department, Passport sent an e-mail reply including a defense

commonly used by those who send unsolicited advertising messages.

In an e-mail sent on Nov. 3, Passport claimed that every recipient

of the text message had "opted in" to receive the marketing

pitches. A copy of the e-mail is included in Verizon's lawsuit.

"Every number we contact has opted in on the Internet (most of the

time) or has entered their information into a sweepstakes or

drawing," the e-mail said. "Most do not remember the license

agreement associated with their entry." The e-mail was signed

"Passport Holidays Legal Department"
© 2006 MSNBC Interactive
In addition I have filed a complaint with the federal trade

comission, federal communication commision and the local better

business bureau In addition I have contacted the local media and

plan on letting the big wigs at Verizon Know how sorry I am that

they are so unconcerned with customer service.There worry free

guarantee is a joke they state that if you ever have a problem it

becones there problem the first time you call