I hope she doesn't get charged out the wazoo for those "STOP, UNSUSCRIBE, blank texts, [and] expletives" she replied with.

My wife used to get lots of robotexts, she called Verizon and they suggested turning off the ability to receive texts by email. She did, and since then has been robotext free. Don't know if that is what is going on here, but it might be worth a try.

Post her number so everyone can send her robot porn! Beep Boop!

"I have been with VZW since 1999! That is 10 years, they were Primeco back then, I pay at least $100 a month to get sh*tty technical support and super rude customer service!? Awesome!"

Noob. My plan has been in existence with CellularOne/GTE/Verizon since 1986 and I still get shitty service.

They probably don't provide decent customer service to long term account holders due to some backwards "If they haven't left now, they're never leaving" logic.

Why did it only start happening when she upgraded to the Blackberry? Presumably, she kept her phone number, and since texts are sent to a phone number, why is she only getting them after the upgrade?

Did they replace the Blackberry? Maybe she could have gotten a new phone and a new phone number? I remember Mr. Pi started getting text spam when he got a new phone number, and had to switch to yet another new phone number to avoid it.

Wait, I had this problem!!!!!

Did the OP have news alerts from MSNBC or The Weather Channel? That is honestly what they asked me and this happened after I upgraded from a BREW-enabled device (LG VX8350) to a BlackBerry World Edition. It took about 2-3 days but I finally got it resolved. There is a page on the VZW Account section where you can go to manage alerts and subscriptions for mobile web. (That crappy WAP browser for mobile phones) From there it should be a clean, simple fix. Although it may take some additional provisioning from VZW on their end.

If you don't want to try it on your own, just call in and tell them that you are running Linux on your computer and use an unsupported browser. They will log in as you onto your account online and make the appropriate changes. They may give you flack saying this they cannot do this, just ask for a supervisor.

@Franklin Comes Alive!:
Exactly, turn off email and make sure premium text ability is blocked and that cures the majority of unwanted texts.

Those are probably notification messages for the mobile e-mail service on your old phone. Check out this crackberry.com thread for more info.

Same thing used to happen to me. I'd get between 5 - 10 texts a day from robots. This happened to me when I switched to the env2. I called Verizon and after an exhaustive process, got them to block out some of the numbers. I lived with it for months because I had unlimited text and didn't care, until the robots would max out my text limit on the phone sometimes and I'd miss otherwise wanted texts... so I finally stopped it.

I still get texts from Spanish speaking people but IT hink that's jsut a wrong number... that's about 7 - 10 a week. I actually think all of this comes from somebody named "anna" because I get telemarketer calls looking for Anna a lot.

@pecan 3.14159265: If you have alerts set up from MSNBC for breaking news or something like that, you get these. The link in the text message would actually open an instance of VCAST Video.

The messages are coming from OzMail's mobile email server. The Mail client on the LG Dare uses this service to send/recv email and it's done through messages like this that the email client picks up before the phone can even notify you. Call verizon and tell them you wish to disable their mobile email service that you use to have on the LG Dare.

Other carriers have a similar service. You may be able to stop them by sending "STOP" to shortcode 4884 as well.

I understand the Verizon hate based on experiences I have read. Maybe I have just been lucky that I have had no issues and really like them. Any issues I have had have been fixed by adjusting settings or actually reading a manual.

the reason this is happening is the person went from a regular phone using the EMAIL program on it and this turn that email program off before changing to a smart phone (blackberry)

Here is my thought as to what happened. I'm basing this on a similar experience with Sprint, but, as with all issues between different carriers, YMMV.

She had an application on her previous phone that was set up to allow her to have push email, probably via a website where she put her email login information. Because her previous phone didn't have native push email support, it was an application that she installed on her phone that worked with the previously mentioned website. The way the two pieces worked together was the website would send the encoded message as a text and the app on the phone, because it would continuously monitor the text messages, would grab any texts that had encoded data, parse the data, delete the text message, and grab the email off of the server.

What she needs to do is figure out which website she was using to do this and either download a blackberry equivalent program from that website or turn the service off at the website.

A quick google search revealed that this is probably Ozmail. If they reconnect the Dare again, go into the settings and disable ALL push email settings on the phone. Let that propagate through the network and have the blackberry reactivated. Hopefully that will correct the issue. Good luck!

@tawni_now in olive oil flavor: Ouch! Trying to blame the OP?

Reading the manual is fine, but typically issues like what the OP encountered are not covered.

@tawni_now in olive oil flavor:

But what if you want texts by e-mail? That is a ridiculous fix.

@tawni_now in olive oil flavor: And also disables some functionality with SMS/MMS based services. That is not a cure all. It is likely from a weather / breaking news alert established on the previous device.

@nstonep: The OP isn't Bender.

Like other commenters, I did a quick second Google search and found that it's her previous phone's subscriptions sending notifications, or something of some sort.

[forums.crackberry.com]

"A quick search of the forums indicates that mobile mycast or AIM on a prior non-smartphone are likely culprits. Other members had success calling their carrier and temporarily re-activating their old phone just long enough to shut off these services."

[forums.crackberry.com]

"I just called Verizon. Yes it does have a relation to Get it Now - in my case Mobile Email. The tech support confirmed that getting the get-it-now app removed before activating the BB should prevent it. OR, she can de-activate my BB, reactivate my Razr, then back again, OR, ir should stop in a day or two."

"I had this same issue when I first switched from my razr to the curve. The guy I spoke with said to put the sim back into the razr, then go to my mobile email program, and delete the account (email address) and then re-insert the sim in the blackberry. It solved my problem immediately."

Hope this helps.

I had the same problem too. Didn't have a text plan and Verizon wanted to charge me extra for the unsolicited texts. Calls to regular CSRs didn't help so I sent an email to the higher ups explaining how I wanted the messages to either stop or be credited for them on my bill.

They said they couldn't do anything about blocking them but they credited me for the remainder of my contract so I wouldn't have to pay out of pocket for them. Ended up canceling Verizon because it just got worse (20+ a day) and they didn't have any other resolution.

That kind of message is called an "app-directed SMS message". It's not supposed to show up in your normal text message inbox. Instead, the first part of that message tells the phone to pass the message to a specific app on your phone. The rest of the message is data that the app understands. Liam Kinkaid is right. Either buy the app on your new phone, or get Ozmail to cancel your service.

This is the most poorly written missive I've ever read. Its grammar is lousy. The writing style pathetic. This kind of writing takes away from the problem at hand.

I agree, however, that she's got a legitimate complaint.

@tawni_now in olive oil flavor: When you get 5 - 10 unwanted, unsolicited messages a day -- as I have had (and the Op, and others in this thread) -- and there is no way to cancel, and Verizon does not allow you to block them without paying for other services ... it's not the manual. I eventually got them to block the numbers that they were coming from, but several times they told me it would be $5+ month to get blocking privileges. I don't sign up for anything w/ my cell phone (I use my GoogleVoice # for all forms and sign ups), so there was no way that I could have opted into these things.

@pattiesmart: I agree, but in her case she didn't need texts by email, so it worked.

@tawni_now in olive oil flavor: In addition, mine were messages from companies, almost all of which located outside of the United States. Not like the robot texts that could be from an old phone, push email, etc... these were solicitations for game hints and cheats, free magazine offers, etc.

@pgh9fan1: I was grimacing so hard I felt that my face would stay that way. Her wayward apostrophes and writing style got on my nerves, and some of the sentences didn't actually make sense. I'm particularly touchy about it today because I'm editing documents.

Looks like a push E-mail service. Googling for //BREW finds lots of cases of this. Your previous phone recognized this as a push e-mail notification - current phone doesn't.

Odd that myself and other Consumerist readers can find that out, but Verizon still can't seem to figure it out...

@pecan 3.14159265: I've had my current phone number since 2000, so there is no way I would change it for something like this.

I'm sure the texts have become a giant pain, but I don't think waiting 5 days for it to be resolved is so terrible. Just ignore the texts (or hit delete) during that time, and if she is charged for the texts (don't know if she has an unlimited plan), I'm sure Verizon will remove the charges with a quick call given her "OPEN TROUBLE TICKET".

She may also want to ease back a bit on the caffeine!

@nstonep: I make my own robot porn at home to save money. I use Megatron and a toaster.

Out of curiosity, does she have any issue with her voicemail? I know that in AT&T training it said you'd get weird SMS messages with links in them if you had a BB but you didn't have the new BB Visual Voicemail turned on (Bold supports it I know). Its possible this is what it is.

definitely looks like it has something to do with an application... read more about BREW at [en.wikipedia.org]

@gamabunta: Had almost identical experience with T-Mobile and dumped them too. Got tired of explain to the that since I use SMS to be alerted of work related system issue turning it off was not an option.

@Franklin Comes Alive!: It's been awhile, but the last time I was with vzw they were able to block specific numbers from texting you. Might want to have them try that.

I had been a Verizon Wireless customer since 2001 and had, in the past, managed to get SMS Spam blocked by calling customer service, but circa 2004, VZW changed something about the way they handle SMS spam.

Starting sometime in late 2005, I began receiving TXT spam from "CANADIANPHARMACY.com" every Tuesday and Thursday at 4am. I would get 5-6 messages at a time, all from a "phone number" consisting of either 4-digits or 16-digits.

Calling VZW customer service, I was told that they could no longer block TXT spam, that I would have to use the vText website to blacklist "up to 20 senders."

Unfortunately, the vText website wanted a ten digit number and would accept nothing else. When I called customer service back, they essentially shrugged and told me that either I could continue paying for and receiving SMS spam wake-up calls, or that I could block all SMS service to my phone.

Suffice it to say, their lack of effective customer service, cost Verizon my continued business.

I don't have any advice for the OP, but I have a robo text annoyance story:

One day I was sitting here at work and my phone beeped to let me know I had a text. Since I wasn't busy I checked the message and it was something in Spanish that I did not understand at all.

I figured it was someone mis-dialing or something so I let it go.. Then, a week later exactly, I got the same sort of message, also in Spanish. I may live in Texas but I am in no way fluent En Español. So I was starting to get annoyed.

Another week went by and I got another one.. so I decided to go to Babelfish and figure out if I could stop the texts.

Now I know that ALTO means "stop" in Spanish. Haven't gotten another text from them since.

There is no Monica. No one has ever received encrypted text from the NSA and the Consumerist never reported on it. Any one who mistakenly remembers otherwise will not have a chip implanted in their neck.

@pgh9fan1:
I know! Her problem sucks, but I couldn't get past how annoyingly this letter was written. For example, instead of "The year was 2009, the date, August 15..." just say "last week". She's trying too hard... this isn't creative writing class.

@Mike_:

you beat me to it. I'd bet the mortgage that's what's going on.

@cc82:

Creative writing has no place in the business world. State the facts, tell me what's wrong, and tell me what you'd suggest as a fix.

I loathe people who write for business purposes the way that they talk, rather than simply getting to the point.

I wonder why the picture is of a T-Mobile phone, but that's besides the point.

My co-worker has Verizon who has had problem with her phone as well. I wonder if Verizon is getting (or has it been already) bad with their service... or is their customer base too big to care about random text messages?

@Smashville: Their logic seems to be sound, if you've put up with shitty service for 23 years!

@tmlfan81: From what I've read in the other comments here, it sounds like there's a 95% chance that she subscribed to something on her previous phone and it is partly her fault. Verizon should know enough to get her unsubscribed though.

@tmlfan81:

Exactly, she needs to reactivate the old phone, unsubscribe from the updates, then activate the blackberry.

@bitslammer: Why didn't the both of you just get new phone numbers? Seems like that would have been easier then finding a new provider.

I have had the same problem as I switched phones around. The attached link suggests changing the password on the email account(s) you have pushed to your phone. Sometimes, this will stop the messages.
[discussion.treocentral.com]

Here's an explanation:
[discussion.treocentral.com]

Those texts are new mail notifications from Verizon's "Mobile Email" "app." The easiest solution is to make Verizon activate your old phone again, go into Mobile Email and delete all your accounts from it, then tell Verizon to cancel the Mobile Email service. Then activate your new phone again.

Or just switch off of Verizon :)

its amazing that no one at verizon could help you with this. the problem is so simple. I recognized it as soon as i saw the words BREW.

I don't have any problems (yet) with robo-texts. I sure wish I could block the daily calls from bill collectors looking for the person who previously had the phone number I got with my VZW Blackberry, though. After all, I've only had it a year and these yahoos haven't figure out they're not gonna get the person they're looking for.

I searched the VZW site and found the ability to block a particular number is the one service they *don't* offer. Maybe I'll port the number over to Callcentric, then use a call treatment to block these calls and forward the remainder to a different number assigned to VZW.

@DefineStatutory: Also, learn how to use apostrophes.