Once upon a time there was just the simple text message. You sent a message and you paid a low rate. A few years ago, however, a new category appeared and became known as premium rate SMS. In short, messages that you paid a whole lot more for.

How did this come about? Well, mobile service providers discovered that SMS was a great way to sell information and applications. For example, a subscriber could receive daily horoscope readings, jokes or even game downloads through SMS. Hence the name premium content which you pay premium prices for.

So these days, there are all kinds of services. Often times you might come across something in an ad promoting SMS services that you are interested in, but zooming into the small print, you will invariably find that it is charging premium rates. Often times, people don’t really know what they are subscribing to or sometimes the actual costs. Before they know it, they end up with high bills. Sometimes of course, and that’s very much in the news these days, unscrupulous companies either hide the costs or downright cheat subscribers. With so many SMS scam sob stories going around, it is best to arm yourself with some basic knowledge, like that in this article, to avoid a scare when the bill arrives and for making informed choices.

Premium rate SMS service basically means that you purchased a service that enables you to purchase any sort of data, download information, graphics, ringtones, Java games and take part in SMS votes. Soliciting any content provided by telcos via SMS usually means you will be charged more than a normal SMS you sent to a friend. This information that you download might be the news alert, weather forecast, feng shui tips, voting for your favourite Akademi Fantasia contestant and so on.

 

 

To differentiate, the SMSes are usually sent to short codes such as 3XXXX. However each service or content provider has a specific short code for easy tracking. The 3XXXX is for external content providers and 1XXXX or 2XXXX is for cellular service providers (Celcom, DiGi and Maxis). You can also track your subscribed services via your postpaid mobile phone bills. Certain telcos also offer itemized prepaid billing.

But how does it actually work in the back end? According to Wikipedia, the valued added service provider submits the message to the mobile operator’s Short Message Service Center (SMSC) using a TCP/IP protocol. The SMSC delivers the content and the subscribers are charged for receiving this premium content. The amount is typically divided between the mobile network operator and the value added service provider. In a nutshell, this is how the system works.

Services that you subscribe for might be billed as low as 50 sen to RM30 per SMS or per month. It is important that you read the fine print detailing how much you will be charged. If there is any discrepancies cancel the subscription and lodge a complaint.

Other methods that you can protect yourself would be call up the company to seek clarifications and answers if you have any questions. Clarify with them especially about the so-called free promotions. They might not be free as what was advertised. Monitor your children’s mobile phone usage as they do not know that premium services are not free or charged similar to normal SMSes.

You might find those small subscription you make on a monthly basis can add up to a lot. If you find the services become dodgy or uninteresting, do unsubscribe yourself. Make very sure that you actually canceled those services.

 

Unfortunately, a recent trend has emerged. Just like what is happening in the Internet where scammers send emails disguised as coming from innocent people, crooks have figured out ways to make it seem as if you ordered or signed up for services.

If you do encounter any problems in unsolicited SMSes or SMS spams, get in touch with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). You can lodge a complaint by giving them a call at 03 8688 8000 or at 1 800 888 030. You can also send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
With reports of SMS scams everywhere it pays to know how it works and how to complain. In most cases, you CAN get your money back.