Uh Oh, Here Comes The Cellphone Spam

If you thought spam on your computer was a bother, brace yourself for round two: spammers want to find you on your cellphone.

Cellphones have become consumers’ most personal technological devices. That is why some industry executives, along with consumer groups and security experts, are concerned that unwanted messages will be an even greater headache on phones.

Cellphone spam is particularly annoying to its recipients because it is more invasive — announcing itself with a beep — and can be costly.

Taber Lightfoot, an assistant director for new media at the Yale School of Management, is among those who have already paid for the privilege of receiving cellphone spam.

“I was at work and I got so annoyed,” she said of the first burst of three messages she received. She got another burst two days later. “That is when I called Verizon and demanded they reimburse me $1.60 for eight text messages,” Ms. Lightfoot said. “It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was my money.”

American consumers are expected to receive an estimated 1.5 billion unsolicited text messages in 2008, according to San Francisco-based Ferris Research, which tracks mobile messaging trends. That is nearly double what they received in 2006.