This is an update to my previous blog on stopping the mobile spammers.

Mblox, the company that had the Jersey Telecom number didn’t reply. I sent them a follow up email a couple of days later, and they responded with this:

Unfortunately, we were unable to identify any messages being sent to the specified number and therefore on this occasion, are unable to help terminate the services you have been receiving.

My advice would be to contact your mobile operator again, and explain that mBlox have been unable to assist. They should be able to provide you with additional information.

They had got it completely wrong. The number I gave them was the REPLY number that pointed to that SMS platform. I emailed back explaining their (rather basic) error.

In their response they sent me an SMS they had received in their system. That message belonged to someone entirely different. Apart from being an embarrassing mistake on Mblox part, it also compromised the privacy of the person concerned…. there was enough information in the message to identify who they were!

Again, a couple more emails pointing out their error, and they finally responded. It turns out, unsurprisingly that the Jersey Telecom number was supplied on by Mblox to another platform provider. They couldn’t give me any contact details for some reason, only their name. The company is called textanywhere – a reasonably busy UK based platform provider. I have emailed them twice now, but had no reply.

I’ll call them shortly … watch this space.