Sorry, I don't believe you. You are saying that spammers went out of their way to use a $9.99 service to spam? Why can't they do that with used/old phones and macs before?
Also, if you are relying on "blue bubbles" to ignore spam, perhaps Apple should be forced to become smarter about spam handling?
Sorry, you don't need to believe me. I received these messages and they are undeleted. It is HN though, people treat it as Reddit and never believe what they read. These particular spam messages aligned with when Beeper was alive. If I find time I will screenshot them and send them to your email listed in one of your links.
Also, if you are relying on "blue bubbles" to ignore spam, perhaps Apple should be forced to become smarter about spam handling?