Did you know there are two different ways to send SMS marketing messages? The carrier approved method is through an SMS short code, which is a 5- to 6-digit phone number. The other method is through a long code, which is a regular 10-digit phone number and isn’t approved by the carriers. These long codes are very popular with SMS spammers as they are cheap, easy to set up, and easily accessible with the rise of service providers like Twilio.
Want an example of SMS long code spam? Read this post on how a Google engineer used Twilio to send over 18,000 SMS long code SMS spam messages to consumers’ mobile phones.
Every wonder though what area codes spammers are most likely to send their messages from? If you did, you’re in luck as our good friends at CloudMark have the answer. In a recent blog post, they listed the top 25 area codes used for SMS long code spam. Remember though, this isn’t where the SMS long code spam is actually coming from, as anyone, anywhere in the U.S. can purchase any phone number, with any area code, to send SMS long code spam.
The top 5 area codes that are most popular with spammers are as follows:
- 347 – New York City, NY
- 310 – Beverly Hills; W. Hollywood; W. Los Angeles, CA
- 949 – Southern Orange County, CA
- 201 – Jersey City; Hackensack, NJ
- 407 – Metro Orlando, FL
The real interesting question here is why SMS spammers use certain area codes over others. Do spammers think that by sending SMS spam to a mobile phone number with a 206 area code, from a 206 area code, increases the number of opens? If so, this makes sense then, as SMS spammers are most likely to target larger, metropolitan areas. Let me know if you have any other thoughts in the comments section below about why certain area codes are more popular with SMS spammers than others?
Below is a map highlighting all of the top 25 area codes and their respective locations.
