Tired of getting spammed via SMS and over the phone? It takes only a few taps to put an end to all of it
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Here's the reality: No one sends SMS anymore — except companies and entities reminding you of bills to pay and doctors' appointments or alerting you to fines and bank transactions. Those important texts, however, make up just a fraction of your inbox. Check and you'll see a long list of unopened messages, many of them from shops promoting discounts and services.
Are you tired of having to delete all these ads over and over again?
And when those ads make it to your phone line, the intrusion could be unbearable. Imagine racing against time to finish work only to be interrupted by a marketing call.
UAE authorities have seen this community problem and thus have put anti-spam regulations in place. On top of that, the government gave residents the power to report and block all unwanted promotional messages and calls — in just a few taps. Here's how:
Based on guidelines specified by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), Etisalat and Du users who wish to block all SMS advertisements just have to do the following:
If you find other ads useful and want to block just some of them, you may also specify.
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The UAE has put together a 'Do Not Call Registry (DNCR)', in which residents can sign up with their phone numbers to indicate that they do not want to receive telemarketing and promotional calls.
Subscribing is free and easy:
Those in Dubai can block and report spam callers by going to dnd.ded.ae.Once the form is filled out and submitted, a team from the Dubai Economy will get the consumer's contact number removed from the reported company’s database.
Unsolicited marketing calls, especially those that violate UAE regulations, should be reported to the entity that oversees the business.
For example, if the call was from a bank, then you should reach out to the Central Bank. If it the call was about trading and investment, then you may contact the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).
You will be able to identify the company behind the unwanted call through the caller ID.
Take note that cold callers are not allowed to use their personal mobile numbers to contact customers.
If you receive a marketing call from an unknown number, with no company name displayed in the caller ID, here's how to report:
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Kirstin Bernabe-Santos is Senior Editor who brings out the 'so what?' in articles that come her way. There's gold in every story, and her mission? Find it - and give you the bling.