Kim Gale  |  May 28, 2020

Category: Legal News

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Upset woman holds hand on her head and looks at smartphone.

If you’re cell phone alerts you every time you receive a text, you may very quickly tire of ads in text messages. Offering everything from free A/C checkups to discounted meals, the texts take time and attention to eliminate one by one.

Several businesses even offer tips to companies on how to get the most from sending ads in text messages. One website that advises telemarketers says 40 percent of advertising text messages receive a response within 15 minutes.

Social Media Sites Sell Your Phone Number

Social media web sites such as Facebook and Twitter track what your online habits are so they can sell the information to advertisers, according to an article from USA Today.

If you have been at a concert or other type of live event, you may see a 5-digit code broadcast on a big screen with enticing words such as, “Text 00555 for a Chance to Move to FRONT Row Now!” You won’t know what company sponsored that contest, but once you send a text to that short code, they will have your cell phone number.

Any time you call an 800, 888, or 900 number, an Automatic Number Identification (ANI) system collects your phone number. Not only will the ANI keep your number in its database, but it will try to match up other online information associated with you through that phone number to build a profile on you.

You might even forget that you provided your phone number to a company in order to place an online order, to enroll in a retailer’s rewards program, or for any other reason the company may need to reach you.

Athletic man with jump rope reads a text on his smartphoneThere’s also the chance a telemarketer simply got lucky because its autodialing system happened to dial your cell phone number. Any autodialing system that randomly calls phone numbers can stumble across a live phone number even if it is on the Do Not Call List. If you have been harassed by advertising text messages without providing consent and your phone number is on the National Do Not Call List, the telemarketer sending you the texted ads could be in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). You could benefit from speaking with an attorney about filing a class action lawsuit.

Replying STOP Will Help Scammers

Some scammers are happy to receive a STOP message back from you because then they know the number is active and verifiable. Before you reply STOP, experts suggest doing an online search to verify a textable number is a legitimate number.

As a rule, never reply to or click on anything within the received text message advertisement.

Instead, experts recommend blocking the numbers even though the same pesky company may attempt to contact you through a variety of different phone numbers.

Whether your cell phone is an iPhone or an Android phone, you can block one number at a time or you can block all unknown callers.

With an iPhone, all you need to do is open the text from the number you want to block and tap on the sender’s phone number. Click the (i) icon. Under the Details screen, click on the little gray arrow to the far right of the phone number and choose Block this Caller.

If you own an Android phone, you also have an easy way to block unwanted texts and calls. You can open your phone app, touch the three-dot icon in the upper right corner and choose Settings and then touch Block Numbers. You can either manually block a number or can block unknown callers, a recent call, or even someone from your contact list.

Text Message Advertising Generates Replies

Basically, because it works. According to TechJury.net, text messages, also referred to as SMS messages, have an open rate of 98 percent. Almost 90 percent of texts are read within three minutes, and customers tend to actually redeem coupons attached to advertisements in text messages at 10 times the rate of other kinds of coupons.

Join a Free Text Message Coupon Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you have received coupons or sales advertisements in a text message from a restaurant or clothing retailer and your phone number is registered with the National Do Not Call registry, you may be entitled to compensation.

Learn More

This article is not legal advice. It is presented 
for informational purposes only.

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14 thoughts onWhy Am I Getting Ads in Text Messages?

  1. Scott Burby says:

    I recently started receiving unwanted texts from companies that I have never contacted my number is registered on the do not call list ,I have had the same cell number for 20 years please help

  2. Shirley King says:

    Add me

  3. Shirley King says:

    Please add me to get rid of ads in my messages

  4. Domenique Butler says:

    Add me please this is harassment

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