Yesterday, I received an unsolicited SMS for a trading course that made me feel like bursting out into laughter. The actual message goes like this:
“See hw our student made $78000 into $1000 in 2 mths. Free Preview on 28 and 29 Oct, 7pm onwards @ NUSS Suntec Twr Lvl 5. SMS to xxxxxxxx to reserve. Ltd Seats!”
Made $78000 into $1000? Er..no thanks.
The use of the wrong word can easily change the meaning of the message the sender was trying to achieve.
But this is probably the outcome you will get if you go into trading thinking you can turn $1000 into $78000. Now, who is there to regulate the use of misleading claims in advertisements?
However, the thing that upset me about the message was that the person who sent the SMS did not adhere to Singapore’s Spam Control Act for mass marketing messages. He or she might want to familarise himself with the Spam Control Act in Singapore.
These would include putting the <ADV> label at the start of the SMS, as well as an unsubscribe facility.
Failure to do so can result in statutory damages of S$25 per non-compliant spam, up to a maximum of S$1million.