Subject: [NEXTEL-1] CALL 3: Spammers Target Nextel Cell Phones

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 20:10:35 -0500

CALL 3: Spammers Target Nextel Cell Phones

POSTED: 2:15 pm PST March 22, 2004
UPDATED: 2:30 pm PST March 22, 2004

Spam --unsolicited advertisements -- may be moving from e-mail
in boxes to cell phones and pagers. And even though it's illegal in
California, that's not stopping some spammers.

Tony Lavelle is a
bomb-detection dog handler. He
works in the field and is often on
call. So, he says he relies on his
Nextel cell phone. But six
months ago, he says it started
getting slammed with spam.

Lavelle says the spam is hitting
his cell phone, on average, once
a week, even waking him up in
the early morning hours.

"Besides the fact of the annoyance, one of the problems that I
have is that I'm charged for each one of these text messages,"
Lavelle said.

That's exactly what Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R-Roseville, says he
was hoping to prevent. He helped pass a law last session,
prohibiting text-messaging advertisements to cell phones and
pagers. He says now it's up to the attorney general and district
attorneys to prosecute.

"Now, obviously, if they get one call, they're not going to stop
the wheels of government and go out and prosecute. But if it's
happening in great numbers and people will share those
complaints, then we can build a case and go after illegal
spammers," Leslie said.

But often, the problem is identifying the spammers. Nextel -- like
other carriers -- has filters, but spammers still get through.
Lavelle says he just wants to believe Nextel and other wireless
companies know about the problem and want to solve it.

"I'd like to think they're working hard to do this, and I don't know
what the answer is," Lavelle said.

Nextel officials told CALL 3 that it would work with Lavelle to
track down the spammers hitting his phone and credit his
account on a case-by-case basis. Nextel also says it is working
on a broader solution to the cell phone spamming issue.

Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission is working on
guidelines on wireless spam.

Consumers can file online complaints about spammers with the
California Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Trade
Commission.

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/call3/2941292/detail.html
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