SMS advertising has become quite common. And it is not uncommon, especially during the holidays or during the sales, to receive a good number of messages for promotions all the way. Here’s how to put an end to it.
“Up to -70% on the whole store!”, “Crazy sales until February 8!”, “An offer not to be missed for the world!”. This type of messages sent by SMS, you must have already received dozens of them on your smartphone. Most of the time, they come from brands with which you have already made purchases and voluntarily left your contact details, including your mobile number, by agreeing to be contacted for commercial offers. This canvassing, although sometimes embarrassing, remains completely legal. And, if the brand which sends it to you strictly applies French law, the messages received must end with the words “STOP au” followed by a five-digit number. This number often appears as the name of the sender. It can sometimes be replaced by the name of the brand from which the letter originated or by a ten-digit telephone number (such as a standard telephone line number). Whatever the number of the sender, it is possible to put an end to this wave of advertising. But beware: depending on the number of the sender, the technique varies and costs may sometimes apply …
The process to stop the flow of SMS from a brand is proving to be rather simple. If the sender’s number is in the form of five digits and starts with a 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 (for example 36001, 36161, 36660, etc.), just reply to the last message indicating STOP – and only that word. The message you send is considered a normal SMS, not surcharged. It is included in your SMS package. If you do not have an unlimited SMS package and you have already exceeded your quota, then you will be billed for this message at the price of a normal SMS outside the package. If you have an unlimited SMS plan and your operator charges you for the message anyway, then you can ask them to reimburse you for it. As soon as the STOP message is received, the platform which provided the service must confirm your unsubscription from the mailing list. You will no longer receive advertising SMS from this brand or store.
If the advertising messages you receive explicitly display the sender’s name (usually a brand or sign), the process to stop receiving them varies slightly. In this case, the sender displays at the end of the message the words “STOP at” followed by a five-digit number. Do not respond directly to his message but create a new message to the number mentioned and simply indicate the word STOP. Here again, the process is normally free. There is no additional cost applied to the SMS you send (unless you have exceeded your plan, in which case you will be billed at the price of an out-of-plan SMS).
If the advertising messages come from a 10-digit number that looks like a mobile number (+33 6 xx xx xx xx or +33 7 xx xx xx xx), you can end them by simply answering STOP to the message. Here too, the process is normally free. There is no additional cost applied to the SMS you send (unless you have exceeded your plan, in which case you will be billed at the price of an out-of-plan SMS). Warning: some of these messages are also pure scams like the one that has been raging for several months already on the Personal Training Account (CPF) or Individual Right to Training (DIF). In this case, do not click on the link contained in the message. And, even if the word STOP appears at the end of the message, do not respond and simply block the sender.
It may happen that the advertising SMS received do not mention the number of the sender of the message. If you are unable to answer, you can turn to the service set up by the CNIL (the National Commission for Informatics and Liberties). You can thus report the SMS. The message sending platform will be notified as well as your telephone operator so that you no longer receive these messages. All you have to do is forward the received message to 33700. You will obviously not be billed for this SMS.
If the advertising message received does not mention a five-digit number to send STOP, the CNIL suggests responding with the following message: “I oppose the receipt of your advertising messages (article 38 of the Data Protection Act) thank you to remove me from your mailing lists “.
Finally, if you can struggle to answer STOP to the advertising messages that you receive but that you continue to receive, the CNIL has also set up a service of online complaint. You must have previously identified the company that sends unwanted text messages and have kept screenshots of your requests to stop receiving their messages.
