Text Message Scams and Cramming

As someone who has been stung by text message cramming, this practice simply infuriates me. The wireless providers are complicit in these scams by allowing a third party to bill their customers through their service. The idea that AT&T and other providers cannot stop these scams is ridiculous. Somewhat to their credit, Verizon is now suing Jawa over their practices.
Jawa appears to be nothing more than the latest company name used by Jason Hope, who has operated under over 20 corporation names. One of these, CYLON, LLC, was investigated here in Austin by KXAN about a year and a half ago.

Cell phone scam called "cramming": kxan.com

Not surprisingly, Jawa is now getting into iPhone, Android, and Facebook applications.


I was bitten by another company called Dadamobile around four years ago. I never signed up for, or opted into, any text message 'service.' I simply started getting texts in the middle of the night that said "Need hot new content 4 UR mob?" then said to text STOP to a short code to unsubscribe. I thought the messages were just text spam and wasn't about to respond to an unsolicited text message. A few Sprint bills later, I noticed a $9.99 charge that had been appearing. Upon calling Sprint, they informed me the company Dadamobile was charging me for a premium text message 'service.' They offered to remove the last three months of charges as a courtesy, which was better than nothing. I also had them put a block on my account preventing third party premium services from being added on. Upon calling Dadamobile, they stated my cell number was entered into a website to receive content from them. They supposedly use a 'double opt-in' procedure in which the first opt-in is the entering of a phone number on their website, and the second opt-in is an affirmative response to their initial text to your phone. I never responded to any of their texts, or received any 'content' from them, yet I was charged for their 'service.' A few Google searches reveal I am by no means alone in my experience with this company.


The person running the text message scams mentioned in the videos above, Jason Hope, strikes me as having narcissistic personality disorder. He has numerous vanity sites that do nothing but state how awesome he is. He has reportedly built the largest home in North America (complete with his own Imax theater and three story nightclub) and dropped half a mil on his housewarming party. How much is this guy making off these monthly charges added to your cell phone bill?


Check your cell phone bills monthly for unusual charges and encourage your friends to do the same. Inform your parents of these scams and make sure they know to read their bills. If your cell phone provider allows you to block third party premium services, by all means take advantage of it now. Avoid Facebook applications as they have access to your profile information which may include your cell phone number. Do not give your cell phone number to websites and make sure your kids aren't either. If you indeed find yourself a victim of these charges, report it to your state attorney general's office. 


Many props to Hamid Shojaee at AZ Disrupters for tracking down all this information.


From AZ Disrupters via Dvorak Uncensored.