"SMS is not necessary" - a service that allows you to unsubscribe from annoying SMS mailings

Hello!
The topic of combating unwanted SMS advertising on Habré has been raised more than once ^[1] . I want to make my small contribution to the fight against the multi-headed hydra of spam.

I, like many probably, often receive SMS messages with “hateful” advertising for taxis, loans, fitness centers and other pleasures of life. And today I came across a smsnenado.ru service ^[2] , offering to unsubscribe from SMS mailings.

% username%, I have nothing to do with this service, I warn you right away

When I saw the repost news about this project, I was skeptical, but curiosity overpowered, and I went into intelligence.

On the main page we are offered such an option of struggle -

• Fill out the form and confirm the phone number
• The service will send a request to the operator to turn off the distribution
• When this happens, the server will send a notification email

I grumble incredulously and climb into the "Terms of Service" at the bottom of the form. And there I saw this:
Conditions are a public offer. It states free and gratuitous services to disconnect me from SMS mailing. It is declared that the data received "will under no circumstances be used to carry out SMS mailing."
Well, in general, not bad, I thought and decided to leave a request.



Entered the data - an SMS was sent to the phone with a request to confirm the number by entering the code on the site, so as not to disturb the Operators in vain. Here a little doubt arose, but, having checked his account, he confirmed. So far, the money is in place.

Soon a message fell on the email

Thank you for using our service. Your application has been accepted for processing.

We will send your complaint to the advertiser with a request to unsubscribe you from the SMS mailing list. If the distributor does not stop sending messages, we will prepare instructions for you and the finished text for filing a complaint with the prosecutor. The complaint is filed through the Internet reception, the procedure takes about 10 minutes. Your further participation will not be required - the supervisor will deal with the illegal SMS distribution itself.

After exploring the service’s site, I found out that the company that created the service (VENDOSOFT CJSC) is itself a software developer for SMS mailing and is trying to fight against negligent competitors breaking the law by creating this service.

In general, on the project’s website everyone is popularly told, there is a section with FAQ and feedback. Well, after reading the "Help for the project" section, I decided to support a good initiative and write an article on Habr, telling you% username% about another way to fight.

Hope it was helpful.

UPD: director of WendoSoft found me in vk.



At his request, I publish answers to comments:

HangGlider, March 3, 2013 at 00:25 #
| We will prepare for you instructions and a ready-made text for the complaint to the prosecutor’s office
by the FAS. There are tons of instructions on how to do this.

Answer: yes, in accordance with the law, advertising distributed via SMS is the responsibility of the FAS. But there are a couple of points:
1) There is no unified policy regarding SMS mailing in the FAS, in each region the FAS operates differently - it can be fined somewhere (examples are on smsnenado.ru), it can be slowed down somewhere. In general, ms
from the recipient of SMS mailings, contacting the FAS does not guarantee that it will ever be unsubscribed; on the other hand, appeals to the Federal Antimonopoly Service are not beneficial to SMS distributors - they may be fined for it. Therefore, our service is useful for both SMS distributors and SMS recipients.

IllAIR, March 3, 2013 at 01: 04 #
And can someone tell us more about the back of the service? That is, how they understand that Kredit + (number) belongs to such and such a company. Based on what do they represent your interests?

Answer: firstly, part of the newsletters goes through us. Secondly, we have agreements with other companies that also do SMS mailing. Yes, we still cannot find part of the senders, because We have not yet established relations with all SMS distributors, and we inform people if it was not possible to unsubscribe from the mailing list.

L3n1n, March 3, 2013 at 01:26 #
In most cases, the service will help to disable only the advertising SMS of the operators themselves. But it also begs "why should they?" You can do this yourself by calling the operator. The result is the same, and you will not leave your number to third parties

Answer: By SMS operators we mean not mobile operators, but namely companies that send SMS. These companies have contracts with mobile operators, and PPSOs in accordance with the Law on Communications cannot but miss their newsletters. We contact SMS distributors and give them information about the person who wants to unsubscribe.

1. Related articles:
   What to do if you are tired of SMS advertising
   What to do if you are tired of SMS advertising?
   SMS spam or "You can send!"
   
2. The service itself - SMS is not necessary!