Many businesses choose to market their products by text, but this can be very annoying to those receiving the spam text messages.
These texts can be straight forward sales pitches but most are for PPI, accident claims, personal injury claims and debt management.
Plus, most of the businesses that send out these spam messages are not the product sellers but lead makers who take the details of people who respond to their adverts and then sell them on to interested parties, usually multiple times e.g. to insurance companies, personal injury solicitors etc.
It is against illegal for anyone to send you spam texts unless you have previously given them permission, but the law does not cover messages sent to businesses.
If you receive texts from businesses you do not know, then responding to the text or complaining to them will likely just will confirm that your number is active and your details will be sold on.
But you should report the text to your network operator.
To report a spam text forward the text to 7726, which are numbers on your telephone keypad that spell out the word ‘SPAM’.
You may get an automated response thanking you for the report and giving you further instructions if needed. You will not be charged for sending texts to 7726.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for enforcing the rules on spam texts and you can complain to them online at https://ico.org.uk/ or phone 0303 123 1113.
Complaining helps the regulators see what’s happening and who to target for investigation.
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