Federal Office of Communications
Federal Office of Communications
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What is SPAM?
Spamming is the sending of electronic messages to a large number of recipients without their consent. The sender of such advertising is termed a spammer.
Examples:
- Companies unknown to you have sent you SMS messages, faxes or mail for products or services.
- Someone you don't know declares their love for you in an SMS message and asks you to call back on an 090x number.
- Unknown persons want to send assets out of their country by using access data to your bank account.
- A message apparently signed by your bank asks you for your password or account number (this fraudulent practice is also known as phishing).
From 1 April 2007, spam is explicitly banned in Switzerland. This applies to all means of telecommunication - and therefore, for example, for e-mail, fax, SMS and the telephone (automatic calling equipment).
Downside of the mass mailing of messages:
- Private users' inboxes or SMS storage are clogged up with unsolicited messages.
- Sorting out unwanted and "proper" messages is onerous and time-consuming.
- The content of messages often constitutes a major unwanted intrusion into private life and is particularly harmful to young people if it is pornographic.
- The network infrastructure (e.g. the providers' mail servers) can become overloaded.
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