Mobile messaging leader Mediaburst today reveals that it was selected by the Office of Fair Trade (OFT) to develop and deliver an unusual educational text campaign to young consumers as part of the OFT’s Scams Awareness Month campaign for February.
Twenty-five thousand fake scam messages were sent by Mediaburst to opt-in young consumers warning them to be on their guard when receiving suspicious SMS messages. The first message read: “Urgent! U may have won £1k cash with ‘2 Good 2 B True’” and was then followed shortly afterwards by another making clear that there was in fact no prize, and that it was simply a warning about text scams.
The message also revealed a new service being promoted by Mediaburst – regulator PhonepayPlus’ SMSus service allowing users to text details (to 76787) of suspicious texts that they receive.
“Young people can fall for exactly the same types of scam as anyone else, often delivered through the latest technology,” says Mike Haley, OFT’s director of consumer protection. “We hope that our innovative approach of sending fake scam text messages will remind young consumers to be on their guard if they receive a suspicious offer.”
Trays O’Reilly, director of standards and communications at PhonepayPlus, adds: “More and more people are using mobile phones to pay for a range of products and services and in most instances this happens without problems. Our job is to crack down on scams and other misbehaviour when it occurs so that everyone can use phone-paid services with confidence.”
According to the Mobile Data Association, 95% of 16 to 24-year-olds use text messaging regularly, each sending an average of 100 texts per month.
