[00:00.225]Another unwanted text message.
[00:02.585]Millions of promotions are now being sent out every week enticing us with bogus prize draws and special offers.
[00:09.418]Chris Derby's 14-year-old daughter received one of those sort of unsolicited texts on her mobile. Chris Derby 14
[00:15.859]I was angry that the message company was tempting youngsters to make phone calls to complete strangers,
[00:22.379]and secondly to invite them to make premium rate calls unannounced.
[00:26.406]Well so far this year,
[00:28.592]the telephone regulator has received 800 complaints about unsolicited or misleading text messages,
[00:33.875]and there's a similar number of complaints involving faxes, emails too.
[00:38.155]This one, for example, it's quite flattering.
[00:40.675]You might be tempted to ring,
[00:42.068]but if you do, it's a premium rate number that costs a fortune.
[00:45.426]Companies have been fined but still the complaints roll in.
[00:50.503]Businesswoman Anna Coren's been besieged by emails asking her to invest in a bogus bank.
[00:56.378]This morning I got very upset.
[00:58.866]I called the Trading Standards and complained about it,
[01:01.715]and they told me that they receive lots of telephone calls and lots of complaints,
[01:05.556]and if I was, er, to take part in this deal, I would have had to spend at least £300 out of my own money,
[01:12.117]which I would never see again.
[01:14.578]You can bar calls to premium rate services and register to stop unwanted contact from legitimate businesses,
[01:21.389]but rogue firms are a problem.
[01:23.272]The regulations can't keep up with the new technology.
[01:25.993]With the next generation phones with visual, um, content,
[01:29.750]it's going to be really important that consumers have more power than they have today to decide what they want to see and what they want their children to see.
[01:36.834]Tighter rules are coming in next year,
[01:39.581]but for now it's either complain about it or bin it.
[01:42.490]Nicola Carslaw, BBC News.

Another unwanted text message.
Millions of promotions are now being sent out every week enticing us with bogus prize draws and special offers.
Chris Derby's 14-year-old daughter received one of those sort of unsolicited texts on her mobile. Chris Derby 14
I was angry that the message company was tempting youngsters to make phone calls to complete strangers,
and secondly to invite them to make premium rate calls unannounced.
Well so far this year,
the telephone regulator has received 800 complaints about unsolicited or misleading text messages,
and there's a similar number of complaints involving faxes, emails too.
This one, for example, it's quite flattering.
You might be tempted to ring,
but if you do, it's a premium rate number that costs a fortune.
Companies have been fined but still the complaints roll in.
Businesswoman Anna Coren's been besieged by emails asking her to invest in a bogus bank.
This morning I got very upset.
I called the Trading Standards and complained about it,
and they told me that they receive lots of telephone calls and lots of complaints,
and if I was, er, to take part in this deal, I would have had to spend at least £300 out of my own money,
which I would never see again.
You can bar calls to premium rate services and register to stop unwanted contact from legitimate businesses,
but rogue firms are a problem.
The regulations can't keep up with the new technology.
With the next generation phones with visual, um, content,
it's going to be really important that consumers have more power than they have today to decide what they want to see and what they want their children to see.
Tighter rules are coming in next year,
but for now it's either complain about it or bin it.
Nicola Carslaw, BBC News.