UAE | General

Out-of-control spam leaves mobile phone users seething

Mobile phone subscribers in the UAE say spam text messages are growing out of control and it is time to clamp down on them, as questions are raised as to how marketing companies get hold of databases with over a million numbers.

  • By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:30 January 24, 2009
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit:

Dubai: Mobile phone subscribers in the UAE say spam text messages are growing out of control and it is time to clamp down on them, as questions are raised as to how marketing companies get hold of databases with over a million numbers.

"These messages are extremely irritating and annoying as they are unsolicited. I'm furious at the telecommunications companies for allowing this," said Liz Jones, a British teacher.

Mobile subscribers and marketing executives say that while the rise of SMS marketing is a cause of subscriber frustration, the boiling point is often reached when a glitch in the system causes one subscriber to receive the same message up to 200 times.

Most of those complaining about spam messages have been etisalat subscribers. The UAE's second telecom company du is relatively new and marketing companies have not got hold of du databases yet.

Marketing executives say spam text messages are great business for advertising companies and their clients. Clients can be sure they reach their targets directly, and advertising companies can make "a killing" on one mass text message.

Lebanon-based marketing company El Barid has a database of 1.25 million etisalat subscribers, according to International Sales Manager Alain Haddad. The company charges Dh15,000 for 100,000 messages sent, or Dh0.15 per message.

"Many of the numbers in our database come from private establishments whose customers opt to receive promotional messages from them, and others come from people who work with etisalat; their sub-contractors," said Haddad. He said he could not reveal more information because the industry is too competitive.

An etisalat spokesperson rejected the allegation that the company's databases have been leaked, calling them "highly inaccurate and baseless".

"etisalat's database is not accessible, sold or shared with any third party, for any reason whatsoever. etisalat maintains that its customer database is confidential and only limited concerned staff from the organisation are authorised to maintain it," he said. He said only a few authorised employees from the company's senior management are responsible for the customer database. "These employees specialise in database management and are fully aware of etisalat's policies," he said.

Haddad said however that the database his company possesses is complete with subscriber demographics such as age, area of residence and gender. The etisalat spokesperson said those assertions were not sufficient evidence to conclude that the phone numbers came from the company's database.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said in a statement that it is "against the law for the licensed telecom operators in the UAE to either sell mobile number databases without the permission and clear approval paperwork of the number holder, or send unsolicited promotional text messages on behalf of a third party".

Both du and etisalat said that they do not send unsolicited text messages on behalf of third parties.

The TRA statement continued: "As for selling services illegally through abusing one's position in any of the two licensed operators in the UAE, [it] is considered an act of theft, thus a criminal act that lies under the UAE criminal laws and is punished accordingly via the proper judicial, security and/or police authorities".


Your comments


Can anything be done about the spam messages that are sent out by the Real estate companies in Dubai? I have an etisalat Sim card and get an average of 25 to 40 messages a day asking me to buy property worth millions of dirhams! or fly for X amount to New York or Paris!
Geoffrey
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: January 25, 2009, 11:56

I don?t mind getting the odd promotional text messages from retailers but what is annoying is all the text messages that come through to me in Arabic. Surely they have the basic technology to send the message to you in the correct language as indicated when I registered with the telecom company. Simple marketing mistake? Or is common sense missing here.
Mark Coady
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 25, 2009, 11:45

Last week I received a text message on my mobile saying that I have won Dh750,000 pounds. They required all my contact information to claim the money. I?m 100% sure it is fake. Dear readers, please don't reply to such messages.
Shareef
Dubai,UAE
Posted: January 25, 2009, 09:38

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