20090331 SMS advertisemnt charge

It's hard to imagine for the people who have never left Taiwan, the owner of a mobile phone number has to pay for the fee for receiving the SMS advertisements which are sent by the advertisers. If you don't take any action silently, you'll be charged from 55 cents to 6.6 dollars per message. The credit is used up quickly by dialing few local calls or mobile phones that are not in the same telecommunication network after recharging $30, and I'm sometimes even exploitd by the advertisers.
沒離開過台灣的人應該很難想像，廣告商寄廣告簡訊到你的手機，是手機門號擁有者要付錢。如果你呆呆的不採取任何行動，就必需付高達每封簡訊 $0.55-$6.6 澳幣的金額。每次儲值三十元，打個幾通市內或網外電話就用光，還要不定時的受到廣告商的剝削…


Remember that you never leave your mobile phone number on the Internet, otherwise, you will become a victim like me.
I obeyed the suggestion from my ex-landlord Tiffaney and Albert, posted the situation I encountered on the help page of Optus customer service, and asked them to block the phone number the advertiser uses from sending me SMS messags again. Around two or three days later, I received a mail from the Optus customer service.
到了澳洲切記不要隨便將個人的手機號碼公佈在網路上，不然就會像我一樣成為另一個受害者。聽從前房東 Tiffaney 和 Albert 的建議，我在 Optus 客服網站上留言，請他們把發簡訊給我的電話給擋掉。大約過了兩、三天收到客服的來信。

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Dear XXXXX-Yu

Upon viewing your mobile number 859XXX09000XXX, I can see that you have been receiving Premium SMS from third party content providers.

Premium Services consist of a wide range of new and exciting services and content for your Optus mobile. These services are generally provided by third parties and are billed directly to your Optus Mobile Bill or taken from the balance of your Prepaid Credit.

Some examples of Premium Services are:
o Ringtones, games & wallpapers
o Text & Win competitions & trivia
o SMS voting for TV reality shows, jokes and horoscopes
o SMS weather alerts

Premium Services are advertised in all types of media, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines and on the Internet (both on your PC and on the Mobile Internet). Generally to opt in for a Premium Service you will need to dial a Premium number, SMS a Keyword to a Premium "19" Shortcode, or online you can enter your mobile number into a field and so opt in to purchase a service or piece of content.

The cost of Premium Services varies from provider to provider, depending on the kind of content you're looking to purchase, so it's very important to look at the cost and pricing model you're signing up for. You could be charged anywhere between 55 cents and $6.60 per message.
You are responsible for calls, messages and other purchases that appear on your phone bill, including those that are made by family and friends, even when made without your knowledge. However, if as a customer you've not been fully informed about the price and content of a Premium Service that you've been billed for, you have the right to contest these charges.
Firstly you should contact the Service Provider of the Premium Service which you are contesting (you should be able to find the Customer Care number in the Premium SMS you're receiving or on their website).

To cancel this subscription you can send a message with the word 'STOP' to the content providers number, which is 19933322 or you may wish to contact them directly. The provider of these SMS messages is Funbox Content and they can be contacted on 1300767306.

I hope this information has helped to address your concerns. You can visit www.optus.com.au/premium for further information or visit an independent website like www.19sms.com.au to gain a better understanding of Premium Services.

Thanks and regards
Maha
Web Servicing Team
Optus
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I followed the steps described in the mail, sent a "Stop" text message to the fxxking advertiser（I have to pay for this text message sending to advertiser）, then their system will reply you a cancel message for confirmation, I haven't received any rubbish from them for two to three weeks.
乖乖的照著信件內容所提的步驟，送一個「Stop」的簡訊給那個天殺的廣告商（還得為這封簡訊付費），然後他們 系統會回覆你一封取消的確認簡訊，到目前為止已經二、三週沒收到垃圾信了。

Today I found a website on the Internet, https://www.donotcall.gov.au/, you can register your mobile phone number on it, once you get advertisement message from someone after registration, you can complain to the organization of the content provider's spam messages, they will be fined heavily, I reckon the advertisers aren't foolish.
今天在網路上發現了一個網站，https://www.donotcall.gov.au/，你可以將你的手機號碼登記上去，一旦收到廣告簡訊，你可以控告該業者，罰金還蠻高的，我想他們應該不敢亂來。