96% Of Indian Mobile Users Get Unwanted Text Messages Every Day

March 20, 2019

Spam SMS — Image used for representation only.

Is your mobile inbox often flooded with unwanted text messages from stores, builders and finance companies?

if the answer is yes, then in all probability is a cashier who took your number before he printed the bill or a lucky draw form you filled at the parking lot in a mall that led to your number getting spammed for promotional text messages.

A recent survey conducted by Local Circles with over 12,000 unique respondents revealed that 96 per cent of Indian mobile users received unwanted text messages every day.

The survey had poll questions on how many spam messages they receive every day besides others.

“42 per cent said they receive 4-7 SMS and 36 per cent said they receive 8 or more unwanted SMS every day. 18 per cent said they receive 1-3 SMS while only 4 per cent said they don’t get unwanted SMS at all.”

The respondents were all asked about the categories from where they received the most spam message. 34 per cent respondents said the most number of spam texts they receive are from the real estate sector, 28 per cent claimed it was banks and insurance companies selling their products, 18 per cent said their spam texts were mostly local (health, medical, beauty etc) while, 20 per cent said e-commerce websites were the biggest culprits.

SMS is the cheapest and the easiest way of marketing, it is one of the reasons why our inbox has just become spam bins nowadays, says Ashish Singh, a Marketing executive.

We have different restaurants for whom we do send out bulk messages based on the database given to us of their customers. Numbers are available easily- either from the food outlets and ready mobile number databases that can be purchased, Singh added.

DND ( Do not disturb) works, but only with the telecom industry. Rest of the industries continue to flood your inbox with their offers.

I get messages from real estate firms even when I have never ever made any enquiry, says 27-year-old, Alia Shaikh a PhD student.

Divya Sharma, Computer engineer says, Spam is just not an inconvenience- your phone can be hacked and that is why it is important to delete or report such spam messages. It is illegal to send commercial messages to people who have no relationship with the company.

If you’re receiving a random message from a company you have never heard off, it could be someone phishing for information from your device.

If the company has an existing relationship with you, they can of course send in their offers, updates and discounts to your phone. This law is not applicable for political messages and surveys and that is why the inbox is flooded with messages during elections.

However, if any text message is annoying you, there is an option on your smartphone to report spam. Once you report it, the company will stop sending messages to you, Sharma added.

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