Back in the old days, spam was a cheap meat product that usually appeared on the dinner table towards the end of the month. Thanks to the age of the internet though, it's become something far more sinister in the form of misleading or inappropriate texts from entities trying to get their hands on your money by stealing your identity. With consumer's facing ever-increasing levels of junk and spam hitting their inboxes, T-Mobile is taking the initiative by slapping third-party messaging accounts (the spammers) with fines when they contravene the carriers new rules.
What Is Spam?
Whether it's the seemingly innocuous message saying you've won a million dollars as part of the sweepstakes that you don't remember entering or a message implying familiarity and demanding your trust it, spam and junk messages flood your inbox on virtually every platform. Every time you report a message as junk or even phishing spam, it seems to cause another influx of the frankly dodgy messages looking to get their hands on your banking details or even worse, steal your identity.
T-Mobile has broken down the offending messages into the following categories in its Mobile Code of Conduct page on the Vonage website:
No messaging programs can run on the T-Mobile network that may promote unlawful, unapproved, or illicit content, including but not limited to:
- SPAM
- Fraudulent or misleading messages
- Depictions or endorsements of violence
- Inappropriate content
- Profanity or hate speech
- Endorsement of illegal drugs
How Will T-Mobile Punish Offenders?
Each violation of the new policy will result in fines of up to $2,000 being issued to the offending party.
- Tier 1: $2,000 USD
For phishing, smishing, social engineering. - Tier 2: $1,000 USD
For illegal content (content Must be legal in all 50 states, as well as federally) - Tier 3: $500 USD
For all other violations (including, but not limited to SHAFT).
In a statement given to Cord Cutters News, T-Mobile gave the following reassurances to its regular customers:
“These changes only impact third-party messaging vendors that send unlawful or unallowed commercial mass messaging campaigns for other businesses. The vendors will be fined if the content they are sending does not meet the standards in our code of conduct, which is in place to protect consumers from illegal or illicit content and aligns to federal and state laws.”
T-Mobile (Via Cord Cutters News)
If a vendor continues to violate the policy, T-Mobile has reserved the right to suspend the brand, campaign, and even the company's ability to access the carrier's network, permanently. This means that this isn't an exercise by T-Mobile to create a new revenue stream, it's actually a policy that has some teeth as such, some real consequences for repeat offenders.
It's Good News For Consumers
Hopefully, T-Mobile's actions will result in fewer spam and junk messages being received by its customers which will again, hopefully, translate into fewer cases of fraud, identity theft, and much less aggravation. With venders now needing to ensure their messages comply with both federal and state laws in all 50 states, the onus is on them to be more responsible for their actions.
For its part, T-Mobile is being proactive in its move to crack down on offending vendors, and we hope other carriers follow suit with similar strategies in order to cut down on the level of spam received by users.
