Cellular spam is no joke!

"Man, I'm so sick of getting spam messages on my email." "Nosooner do I set up a new account, but the spammers find meagain!" "It's enough to make me give up using email!"

Does this sound like a familiar refrain? Could it be you, or afamily member, or friend? Think we're talking about your emailaccount at home? Well, think again

Remember the days when you only had to worry about getting callsat dinner or bed time from telemarketer? Childs play! Spammingof your email account? Mere pranks.

Now, meet the text messaging spam on your cell phone. Yep, youheard it here. The same people who brought us the joy of spam,now bring us "Son of Spam"! This is unsolicited text messagingto your cell phone.

You might say, "What's the big deal?" I'm glad you asked, butI'm sure it would have come to you. When spammers hit youronline mailbox with spam, it uses up your time. That's the onlycurrency wasted. But, with cell phone text-messaging spammersthey're spending your money to send you their messages! That'sright your paying for their advertising!

And, it's not restricted to the U.S. In Europe things are evenworse, where an estimated 65% of the customers complain ofgetting five or more spam messages a week, and this after the EUput digital privacy rules into place to curtail the problem.

In our country, the Can-Spam Law is supposed to address theproblem, and all of the providers are aware of it as well. Infact, many say they will refund any time used as a result ofunwanted text messaging.

Each cellular service provider has its own policy. You'll needto check with them to find out what recourse you have.