Remember when it used to be a treat to get a text message? Now the opposite seems to be the case. More and more people are flipping open their phones to find that the text message they assumed was from a friend or colleague is actually a bit of mobile spam.

Of course, the problem isn't out of control just yet. Most text messages people actually receive still are of the legitimate variety. Mobile spamming certainly hasn't reached the obscene levels of e-mail spam--far from it. But while most people have accepted the fact that their work and personal e-mail inboxes will be loaded with spam each morning, there's a certain sense of betrayal when it comes over your cell phone. Isn't there a certain feeling of inviolability with a mobile phone. That phone number is very personal: It's not listed in any phone directory, and until recently, it was immune from telemarketers and even from other people in your family--you never have to take a message for your spouse on a mobile phone. What really chaps your hide, though, is nine times out of ten you end up paying for the spam message you just received. Oooohhh, that's gotta burn...

Well, it's only going to get worse. Messaging provider Wireless Services released data this week showing that 43% of the messages traversing the networks of its customers in 2004 were spam messages. While Wireless Services succeeded in blocking most of them, the numbers were still a cause of concern. In 2003, spam accounted for only 18% of mobile messages, Wireless Services said. So basically as messaging increases in popularity, the greater the percentages of those messages become spam.

Those numbers may still be far away from those applied to e-mail: spam trackers say that spam accounts for 98% of global email traffic. And while anti-spam solutions often manage to block the bulk of those messages, even the small percentage that does squeak through causes plenty of misery.

According to Wireless Services, though, the majority of anti-spam solutions for mobile messaging are based on e-mail anti-software. That's a chilling thought. Spammers have shown their resolve, finding every weakness in the best security software to get their wares to their final destination. If they applied that same energy to text messages--and every indication shows they've begun to--we could facing something horrible: spam that follows you everywhere.

Contact me at kfitchard@primediabusiness.com.