With the gradual shift in focus from print media to digital content, advertising has also shifted. While there is still a place for traditional advertisement platforms, more and more ads are being served on mobile.
These ads could come to you in the form of online ads on pages you visit. YouTube users are very conversant with skippable ads. But these aren’t all.
More and more services are resorting to advertising using SMS. These promotional messages could be targetted or just random. Either way, they can be really annoying.
Even more infuriating is the fact that some of these promotional messages sometimes activate unwanted services that eat into your airtime.
Luckily, Safaricom offers a rather quick way to get rid of all these and stop your credit/airtime from being unjustly deducted. Here’s how to get it done.
- Dial *456# on your phone’s dialer.
- Reply with 9: STOP.
- Reply with 5: MARKETING MESSAGES.
- Reply with 1: STOP PROMOTIONAL MESSAGES.
- Enter the sender name you wish to stop
Before this, it might be helpful to first go through your SMS and identify the culprit services.
If you just want to opt-out of all of them altogether, you can call Safaricom customer care on 100.
This same method can be used to opt-out of Safaricom’s own promotional messages. You know those texts that quickly follow any M-PESA transaction message? Yes, you can opt-out of those as well.
To do so, follow the same procedure and when asked to input the number or name of the promotion service you want to stop, simply enter Safaricom.
Be advised that this will mean you won’t be notified of any new Safaricom offers or promotions (which also count as advertisements, right?)
Our smartphones are a distraction as it is. Having an extra service that sends you unwanted SMS can quickly become a nuisance. Even more infuriating are the services that charge you in the process.
Do let us know if you have any questions in the comment section below.