Many industries worldwide are mobilizing to combat the spread of COVID-19 in whatever way they can. Text messaging is also playing its role, with many excellent use-cases related to wellness and awareness hitting the mobile ecosystem. Unfortunately, spammers are looking to capitalize on the prevalence of coverage and public concern surrounding COVID-19. We must all work together to ensure COVID-19 spam does not gain a foothold in our network by vetting customer use-cases and keeping an eye out for any that seem fraudulent or maliciously opportunistic. Here are some examples of problematic COVID-19 use cases:
- Fraudulent/phishing messages claiming to be official notices from the government or other sources including links to web forms requesting personal information.
- Loan opportunities looking to sign people up during a difficult financial period.
- Marketing for test kits, masks or other materials that take advantage of public concern.
These are merely a few of the ways spammers are using the COVID-19 outbreak to abuse text messaging.
So, how do I minimize my legitimate COVID-19 messaging traffic from getting blocked?
Great question and one we have an answer for as well.
Essentially we need details regarding use-cases, so we could submit those to carriers to get them approved. You will need to provide detailed response to the seven questions below.
- What is the use-case (in this case, as it pertains to COVID-19)?
- What number(s) are associated with the use-case?
- If multiple numbers, why?
- Each number will need to be justified. Is the content provider a fortune 500 or 1,000 company?
- What is the monthly traffic volume?
- How do end-users opt-in?
- Where is the code advertised (if anywhere)?
Mobile carriers are extremely critical of COVID-19 use cases, and the rest of us must be equally critical. If you see your customers running traffic related to coronavirus, give it a good look. Ensure it is providing a legitimate service promoting wellness or awareness. If you are ever unsure, feel free to email support@tsgglobal.wpengine.com with examples of the traffic for a second opinion. Our compliance experts are happy to partner with all of you on keeping our traffic free from COVID-19 spam.