Hello. I am writing to make a complaint about an unsolicited text advertisement and subsequent
charge of $9.95 I received today from 550-33, which noted the following:
"You will now receive Gossiptexts Ent. Alerts $9.99/mo charged to wireless bill; 3 msg/wk."
I did call AT&T, my service provider, and sure enough, the charge had already been applied to my
account. AT&T put a purchase block on my account, which will prevent this from happening again.
However, it has come to my attention that because of a loophole, a company can send unsolicited
messages and charge very high prices for them, as long as the receiver does not opt out. This is
extremely problematic -- a) I was lucky enough to be able to send a STOP message immediately, but
had I not had my phone on, I wouldn't have seen it in time to opt out. b) there was absolutely no
acknowledgement of my "stop" message. c) This is a predatory practice that can affect people on
lower incomes who have every penny budgeted for the month. d) This practice is also what I would
consider an invasion of my privacy and actually, when it comes down to it, downright fraud.
Please consider investigating this company and their fraudulent practices. There are several
complaints online so I am not the only victim here. I feel extremely violated, and I would hope the
FCC cares enough to warrant an investigation.
Thank you
Nancy Oakes