FREE & CHEAP SMS

Everybody wants to be able to get free and cheap sms messaging on their mobile. Costs for text messaging can add up quickly if you use your mobile phone a lot!

SMS

Short Message Service (SMS): available on digital GSM (Global System for Mobile) networks allowing text messages of up to 160 characters (224 characters if using a 5-bit mode) to be sent and received via the network operator's message center to your mobile phone, or from the Internet, using a so-called "SMS gateway" website.

If the mobile phone is powered off or out of range, text messages are stored in the network and are delivered at the next opportunity.

Basically, SMS are short text messages that can be sent to a mobile phone.

SMS messaging (mobile text messaging) has become a very popular service, particularly among young socially active people, with over 400 billion SMS messages sent worldwide in 2002!


FREE TEXT MESSAGING

There are some mobile services that offer free sms text messaging which is very handy for that find themselves texting a lot on their mobile!

Scam Watch - http://www.scamwatch.gov.au

(We provide this article as a community service.  It is informative only and is not intended to discourage you from taking advantage of the many free and low-priced offers available for SMS text messaging in Australia)

What is an SMS competition & trivia scam?

An SMS competition or SMS trivia scam usually arrives as a text message and may encourage you to enter a competition for a great prize (like an mp3 player). The message (or sometimes, an advertisement) could also invite you to take part in a trivia competition, with a great prize on offer if you answer a certain number of questions correctly.

The scammers make money by charging extremely high rates for the messages you send, and any further messages they send to you. These charges could be as high as $4 for each message sent and/or received.

With trivia scams, the first lot of questions will be very easy. This is meant to encourage you to keep playing. However, the last one or two questions that you need to answer to claim your ‘prize’ could be very difficult or impossible to answer correctly (and may even require you to guess a random number).

Warning signs

• You receive a text message offering you the chance to win a great prize by sending a return text to enter a competition.
• A text message tells you that you could win a great prize by participating in a trivia competition over SMS. The first message may even contain a very easy question to tempt you.
• The text message (or other advertisement) does not give you details about how to stop receiving more messages.
• The first text message, or the advertisement for the competition does not contain all the terms and conditions.

Protect yourself from SMS competition & trivia scams

• Use your common sense: the offer may be a scam.
• Read all the terms and conditions of any offer very carefully: claims of free or very cheap offers often have hidden costs.
• Make sure you know how to stop any subscription service you want to sign up to.
• It is best not to respond to text messages or missed calls that come from numbers you don’t recognise.
• Be careful of phone numbers beginning with 190. These are charged at a premium rate and can be very expensive.
• Look out for SMS and MMS numbers that start with 19. These are charged at a premium rate (sometimes even for receiving a message) and can be very expensive.

As well as following these specific tips, find out how to protect yourself from all sorts of other scams.

Do your homework

Contact your mobile phone company to ask about the number—they will know if it comes from a premium rate service. You could end up with a huge phone bill if you engage in a text message conversation with a number that charges you for messages sent as well as received.

If you did not want to participate and you receive more messages, make sure you tell your phone company that the charges are not being made with your permission.

Decide

It’s best not to reply to any text messages you receive if you don’t recognise the number—it only shows that you are interested and you could then receive many more similar messages.

If you are interested, make sure you understand how much it will cost you and how you can stop receiving messages. If you want to be extra safe, ask your telephone company to put a bar on premium rate services (190 numbers) from and to your phone.

Report them

If you have received such a text message, or if you have replied to the text message and you now realise it is a scam, you can report it through the SCAMwatch website and to your phone company. You should also spread the word to your friends and family to protect them.

SMS Pup - http://www.smspup.com

From the web site:

SMSPup provides FREE^## web-based mobile text messaging (SMS) services to over 300,000 Australian mobile users.

Bolt Blue - http://www.boltblue.com.au

For the web site:

Send 90 SMS text messages from your PC to any mobile in Australia, the UK, Ireland, USA and Canada

Includes premium text messaging features:

• Up to 160 characters
• Send to multiple numbers
• Long Messaging (up to 400 characters)
• Plus up to 30 Extra FREE text messages^##

Revolution Telecom - http://www.revtel.com.au

From the web site:

Revolution Telecom is a prepaid mobile provider that will crush the lies, gimmicks and rorts of the prepaid mobile industry in Australia.

There is no discrimination – everyone gets cheap call rates, all day everyday, everywhere. It doesn’t matter who you call, what network they’re on or how much you want to spend each month, cheap rates are yours 24/7.

Think Mobile - http://www.thinkmobile.com.au

From the web site:

Think Mobile is a member of the Pivotel Group which also includes Pivotel Communications and Globalstar Australia, and represents a significant, proven and profitable Telecommunications Carrier with over $60 million invested in mobile and satellite telecommunications infrastructure in Australia.

Globalstar Australia has been operating the Globalstar mobile satellite service since January 2003 and is the largest mobile satellite service provider in Australia.

At Think Mobile we believe in offering simple, value for money services. That's why we offer just two simple plans giving you unbeatable value without the lock-ins and trick terms. If you don’t like lock-in contracts, then check us out, both of our plans have no minimum terms.