we had this on our phone this months phone bill..anyone know how to stop this

FOR ZAPSER TEXT THIS NUMBER BACK 81097 AND THEN TYPE IN STOP

reply to message and test them back to stop see if that works they unscribed me and said i wouldnt hear from them again. i received the new one at 800-861-7414. i hope this works for you

unsolicitated text message, charged $9.99/month.

I have the same thing.  I can't get any satisfaction by calling the number given to me by verizon.  I was told that I authorized it.  However, Iknow I did not.

it also showed up on mine!!! somebody help!!

This is a 3rd party content provider that received your phone number by you or your child or someone you know that is putting your cellphone on website and then replying to a text. its not a scam but a premium service. Maybe isntead of blaming cellphone companies you should ask for a purchase blocker. That will put a stop to it.

This is a scam.  My wife got a unsolicited text message from this company telling her "U R bid for prizes renewal is complete go to bidforprizes.com...." on September 10th.  She has never been to their website, never once text this company nor had she responded to it.  Still...$9.99 showed up our bill for "Premium TXT Messaging" (in fact, I'm just now noticing that our bill date was only through Sept 4th so they billed us for something we NEVER even heard of or seen).  

Anyway, I called Verizon and they told me I had to respond to the text message by messaging to:81000 and including the message: Cancel membership.  The Verizon rep then said I "should" get a text message back saying "You are unsubscribed" or in the alternative a 800 number to call (which I must call) all to insure I am not hit with another monthly $9.99 charge.

Fortunately, Verizon is giving me a $9.99 credit on next months bill (though I'm betting I'll have to call again next month to try to get another one).  

I spoke to the Verizon rep about what they intend to do.  Apparently...NOTHING.  Verizon will still get billed $9.99 for our "membership" and Verizon will apparently still pay it.  Guess there is too much money in this stuff for them to put a stop to it.  

My theory is this is the next big spammer type scam.  Verizon will just pay them.  All they need is cell phone numbers...send you a text and your hit.  If you don't watch your bill carefully you'll be hit for several months.  Either way...Verizon is paying them but for the time being they likely make so much as the third party biller it doesn't matter to them.

BTW, my wife doesn't even use text messaging.  I've sent her a few but she NEVER sends any out.  No wallpaper.  No ringtones.  Nothing.  It's just her cell phone.  We NEVER inquired or soliticed services from bidforprize.  While I was typing this we did text them and cancel and they texted her back saying "our membership is stopped" and provided the following 800 to call with questions: 800-861-7414 (7am - 4 pm PST).

If you were charged on your cell phone bill for ringtones or other mobile content that you never authorized and/or you were sent unsolicited SMS text messages and you want to fight back against these companies, get in touch with some class action attorneys.

These fellows are investigating unauthorized cell phone charges and wireless SMS text spam and might be able to help you:

http://www.ClassActionConnect.com/?q=node/680

Same here!  Just spoke to Verizon because I thought I had blocked all forms of texting.  Apparently, this is an application that is downloaded through the computer so that you can add games, wallpaper, ringtones, etc. to your phone.  My daughter didn't realize she was basically subscribing to this site, for a $9.99/month fee.  I asked Verizon to block all forms of downloading possibilities and now her phone is just that, a phone!

Same story here.  I called and had to send a copy of my phone bill front page, the page with the text charge and they are sending me a refund (we'll see if that happens).  This comes off of Myspace somehow.  My kid seems to have used something called photobucket and it prompted him to enter his phone #.  He got a text which, as a kid, he replied to and that activates the account which then charges 9.99 a month.  Lesson learned.  Do not reply to strange text messages.  The company hit us twice - Zapster1 and Bidforprizes.  Hopefully this is now taken care of

I actually just called this number from my home phone and talked to customer service.  Apparently it has something to do with music trivia.  They asked for the phone number it was billed to and were able to tell me my son's name.  My son claims to not know what it is, but it's possible a friend of his signed him up for it as a joke...considering my son is not into too music.  He has never received anything else from this number.  I was told it is something I would be billed for each month, so I told them that I would not be subscribing to it anymore.

I also had this same thing on my son's bill.  I don't have a clue what it is for!

This number shows up on my verizon wireless bill as a Premium Text Message costing me $9.99. I have no idea what it is. The full description on the bill is: PREM_SMS  81097 ZAPSTER1 9.99 8882139004. Anybody have any ideas?