Mobile spamming in Nigeria: An empirical survey

Spamming has attained a global dimension and continued to maintain an upward trend, both in sophistication and frequency. So far, it has defied every effort, including technical and non-technical proposals, to curb it. This study seeks to investigate the prevalence of spam SMS, with focus on Nigeria. To quantify the prevalence, primary data was collected using questionnaire. Out of 270 surveyed, the responses of 191 mobile users were valid and analyzed. The study revealed that all mobile subscribers receive spam SMS, receiving an average of 2.45 spam SMS daily. This implies an average of 334,857,685 spam SMS received daily in Nigeria. However, most are for commercial purposes. Few mobile users report cases of fraudulent spam SMS, including those with SMShing intent, to network providers or security agencies. Most believe customers of mobile networks should reserve the right to determine the type of unsolicited SMS to be received, and unsolicited advertorial/promotional SMS should be regulated. Current guidelines and regulations need to be reviewed, to effectively manage spamming activities in Nigeria.