Spamming by Text Message On the Rise

E-mail spam is an annoyance of modern life, but now spam is creeping onto mobile phones. This year, there's more of it than ever before, which has many in the industry on high alert.

The thing with mobile spam is that it feels more personal than e-mail spam. But it isn't just annoying; it can get expensive. Most Americans pay per text, regardless of whether it's spam or real. That means if you get a spam text, you're likely paying a few cents before you check out that too-good-to-be-true offer. And the number of spam text messages is going up.

How much spam is getting through to cell phones, and what are wireless carriers doing to block it?