Beware the following spam message from one of the Internet’s worst "legit" spammers, SMS.ac:
Hi Arieanna,
I found your blog and figured this might interest you: you can offer your Blog to our users and earn money every month on a reoccurring basis. We have a growing number of content providers like yourself, some of whom make upwards of $7,000 a month.
Our social network of 50 million users worldwide allows you to present your Blogs or other content in what we call "Pods". Your blog posts are pulled automatically from Blogger, Xanga, or LiveJournal and updated on our site.
Users that add your blog to their accounts pay you a subscription fee through their mobile phones. There is a 3-way revenue share model in place between SMS.ac, the mobile phone operators, and you. You can also send text messages to your subscribers to inform them of new content or exciting updates. Starting in August, your blog will also be available on our users’ mobile phones.
To get started, all you need to do to upload your blog is visit the Blog Wizard at http://www.sms.ac/blogs and follow the 3 easy steps: create a title and description, provide your blog account info, and set the price. This should take you less than 5 minutes, and is no cost to you!
We are also offering an incentive to help new providers to get started. In addition to the standard revenue share, each Pod published from June 1-30 that reaches 15 users in 30 days will receive a $100 bonus!
If you have questions or would like me to walk you through publishing your blog, please suggest a date and time that I may contact you by phone. Otherwise, feel free to get started!.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best Regards,
Chad Horton
Business Development
SMS.ac Inc.
619-696-1376
chorton@corp.sms.ac
255 G Street, #723 | San Diego, CA, 92101 | USA
If you, like most people, have received "invitations" from your "friends" 3-6 times to join sms.ac, you’ll know what I mean when I say beware. This is not a legit offer and will, by your participation, only result in more spam. Please don’t fall for it.
Tags: spam, spammer, email spam, email marketing, sms.ac, fraud
I was one of the people that signed up… it was all the way back in November, before any of this started. I do actually make money off of the pods I have created for them, but there are a few things you need to know about so that you don’t inadvertently do something that will make you upset.
First, the only reason you may get messages from a bunch of people (or send them to friends) is if you tell SMS.ac to do so. You simply need to read carefully when you sign up. They have an option to send out invitations. This is a great tool for those that want it, and nothing new with online communities. If that’s not what you want, however, just don’t do it.
Second, they give you the option to receive text messages if you supply your cell phone number. Again, this is optional. You can easily click on the “Messages” link from your homepage, then the “Preferences” button, and set up all of your message preferences. Nothing is unsolicited. All of these things can be great tools for marketing any pods you create, but they are optional. The easiest way to market pods is through their current subscriber base, since they are already members. Just add some of them to your friends list and tell them about your pods.
My last few checks have been around in the hundreds, and going up each month… to around $600 for the last one… so it’s definitely not a scam if you know how to use the system correctly.
I noticed that they actually have created their own blog to answer some concerns:
http://smsac-corporate-blog.blogspot.com/
I hope the info helps!
If you were charged on your cell phone bill for ringtones or other mobile content that you never ordered, you might want to get in touch with some class action attorneys.
These guys are investigating unauthorized cell phone charges and wireless text message SMS spam and might be able to help you fight back:
http://www.ClassActionConnect.com/?q=node/680