Earlier this week, a report by Wired highlighted how Apple’s iMessage service has become “a cheap and easy way for luxury goods spammers” to get their junk messages on users’ iOS devices and Mac OS machines. Today, BlackBerry has claimed that since Apple is “moving slowly” to help out “beleaguered users”, iMessage users should simply switch to BBM.
Jeff Gadway, the head of product and brand marketing for BBM, has said in an official blog entry that BBM isn’t vulnerable to iMessage’s reported spam problem. He says that if a company is “fortunate enough to be running BlackBerry’s Enterprise Mobility Management solution” it allows IT managers to simply turn off iMessage. He also detailed the five reasons why BBM can’t be used for spamming.
1) BBM is architected in a way that protects our 85 million users against spammers. iMessage works off of phone number or Apple ID. Anyone who has your number or Apple ID can send you messages whether you want them to or not. With BBM, users have a lot more control due to our “invite and accept” paradigm.
2) BBM gives you control. There’s no spam on BBM due to its self-policing system. Users are in control of their contact list and there is no way to send a message without being contacts.
3) BBM Protected ups the security ante. Privacy is the main issue with iMessage and spam. BBM protects your privacy by only allowing users to send messages to approved contacts.
4) BBM empowers you to protect yourself from unsolicited messages. On the rare chance that you get spam or an unwanted ad, you only need to block the person from your contact list and refuse further attempts to reach you in the future.
5) BBM’s anti-spam features work on any platform. BBM is structured so that each user has a unique PIN that’s unique to him or her, regardless of what device is used. Here’s the added bonus: BBM is a true multi-platform network that allows you to securely message users on BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Phone and Android.
So guys, will you be willing to switch from iMessage to BBM to avoid spam?
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Such BS, I received lots of Indian spam on my Blackberry. Just search for BBM Spam and you’ll find thousands more complaining for years now…
I bet they paid for the Wired article.
Interesting. Never once have I had spam via iMessage on any iOS device I’ve ever owned. Same for everyone I know or even random acquaintances. BBM however, has been a cesspool of spam to many people I know going years back now.
also you can block any number from messaging you. ios 7 gave us that functionality
…what spam?