Cellular spam is no joke!

"Man, I'm so sick of getting spam messages on my email." "No sooner do I set up a new account, but the spammers find me again!" "It's enough to make me give up using email!"

Does this sound like a familiar refrain? Could it be you, or a family member, or friend? Think we're talking about your email account at home? Well, think again

Remember the days when you only had to worry about getting calls at dinner or bed time from telemarketer? Childs play! Spamming of your email account? Mere pranks.

Now, meet the text messaging spam on your cell phone. Yep, you heard it here. The same people who brought us the joy of spam, now bring us "Son of Spam"! This is unsolicited text messaging to your cell phone.

You might say, "What's the big deal?" I'm glad you asked, but I'm sure it would have come to you. When spammers hit your online mailbox with spam, it uses up your time. That's the only currency wasted. But, with cell phone text-messaging spammers they're spending your money to send you their messages! That's right your paying for their advertising!

And, it's not restricted to the U.S. In Europe things are even worse, where an estimated 65% of the customers complain of getting five or more spam messages a week, and this after the EU put digital privacy rules into place to curtail the problem.

In our country, the Can-Spam Law is supposed to address the problem, and all of the providers are aware of it as well. In fact, many say they will refund any time used as a result of unwanted text messaging.

Each cellular service provider has its own policy. You'll need to check with them to find out what recourse you have.