"Text WIN to 55555 for your chance at a $1,000 gift card!" It looks harmless — you already text all day. But a slice of these shortcode promos are wired to premium-rate SMS or a recurring subscription, and the "entry" quietly bills $9.99 a month to your carrier account until you notice. The charge hides in a section of your bill most people never open. Here's how the trap works and how to enter the real ones without getting billed.
Read the fine print before you text anything
Legit text-to-enter sweepstakes are free to enter — the standard disclosure reads "Msg & data rates may apply," meaning you pay only your normal per-text rate (usually nothing on an unlimited plan) and nothing to the sponsor. The trap versions bury a different line in gray 6-point type: something like "$9.99/month, recurring, until you cancel" or "2 messages per week, $1.99 each." That phrasing — a dollar amount tied to a frequency — is the tell. A real prize entry never has a price per message.
Before you send a single text, find and read the official rules, which US law effectively requires every legitimate sweepstakes to post. Look specifically for the words "recurring," "subscription," "auto-renew," or "premium." Also check the shortcode itself: five- and six-digit codes are legitimate channels, but a code pushed at you through a random pop-up ad, a "you've been selected" text from a number you don't recognize, or a sketchy web banner deserves zero trust. When in doubt, enter through the sponsor's own website instead — the same sweepstakes almost always offers a free web or mail entry method, because "no purchase necessary" is a legal requirement.
Know your STOP rights and use them
Federal rules give you a hard stop, literally. Under the wireless industry's shortcode standards, replying STOP (also END, CANCEL, QUIT, or UNSUBSCRIBE) to any shortcode message must halt the texts — and the associated billing — and the sender must send one final confirmation and nothing more. This is not a courtesy; it's mandatory. If a shortcode keeps texting or billing you after you send STOP, that's a violation you can report.
The catch: STOP only cancels the specific shortcode you reply to. If a scammy "sweepstakes" enrolled you in three different premium services, you have to text STOP to each code separately. So save the messages, note every shortcode involved, and send STOP to all of them. If STOP doesn't work, escalate to your carrier directly — Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all have a premium-SMS / third-party billing block you can switch on that flatly prevents any of these charges from ever attaching to your line again. Turning that block on preemptively is the single best defense; ask for "third-party billing block" or "Premium SMS restriction" by name.
Audit your carrier bill for stray charges
The reason this scam survives is "cramming" — small, unauthorized charges crammed onto your phone bill in the hope you won't spot them. Pull up your last three statements and look past the plan line to the section labeled "Third-Party Charges," "Purchases," "Premium Services," or "Other Charges." A stray $9.99 or $14.99 with a vague vendor name ("MobileFunClub," "TriviaAlerts") is the fingerprint of a text-to-enter trap you never knowingly agreed to.
If you find one, you're entitled to a full refund — the FTC has pursued carriers over cramming, and all three major carriers will reverse unauthorized premium charges when you call and dispute them. Get the charge removed, ask them to switch on the third-party billing block, then check the two prior months in case it's been running longer than you thought.
Before you text any shortcode to win, read the rules — if there's a per-message price, it's not a prize, it's a subscription. 🛑