# Opt-out for spam from shared text number



## dub_nerd (31 Mar 2014)

I get spam advertising by text message from a former broadband provider. I've had no dealings with them for three years since having a complaint against them upheld by ComReg to do with unacceptable service levels and a demand for a refund. But I still get text message ads for memory sticks, routers, etc. They didn't always include an opt-out number, but since they started doing so I've opted out three times, to no avail.

Now, I have no problem dealing with this -- I've emailed to tell them I will be complaining to the [broken link removed] the next time I get an unsolicited text. 

But here's the thing. Their opt-out instruction is to text "stop" to 51155. If you Google that number, you'll see that it seems to be a common number shared by all sorts of services. One of them is [broken link removed], a service I've tried to use before. I never received any reply from them and ran the risk of being clamped. When I looked at my text to them on my phone, which groups all texts to the same number together, I noticed that I had previously sent a "stop" to that number in an attempt to opt out from my former broadband provider's spam. However, I don't know if this was the reason that I never got any response from the parking people -- how would they even know I'd sent a "stop" to that number?

So, can anyone tell me how that works? How can a sender of a text tell you to opt out by texting a number which is shared by many others? And what happens when you do?


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