This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP" or "Policy") applies to your use of the products, services, phone numbers, APIs, webhooks, dashboard, integrations (including Slack/Discord/email forwarding), and related technologies provided by Reliable Channel LLC in connection with JoltSMS (collectively, the "Services").
This AUP is incorporated by reference into the JoltSMS Terms of Service (the "Terms"). Capitalized terms not defined here have the meanings given in the Terms. By using the Services, you agree to comply with this AUP.
This AUP is designed to protect the Company, our customers, our upstream providers and carriers, and the broader telecommunications ecosystem from abuse, fraud, and illegal activity.
1) Zero Tolerance & Enforcement
1.1 Zero tolerance. We maintain a zero tolerance approach for violations of this AUP, especially activity involving fraud, phishing, unauthorized account access, harassment, child exploitation, terrorism, or other serious harm.
1.2 Immediate action. We may, at any time and in our sole discretion, suspend, restrict, throttle, replace numbers, or terminate your account and access to the Services without notice if we believe you have violated this AUP, the Terms, or applicable law, or if your activity presents risk to the Services, our providers/carriers, or others.
1.3 No refunds for violations. Accounts suspended or terminated for AUP violations are not eligible for refunds (to the extent permitted by law), including for unused subscription time.
1.4 Reporting & cooperation. In cases involving suspected illegal activity (e.g., child exploitation, terrorism, wire fraud, identity theft), we may be required to and/or may choose to report the activity and relevant account information to law enforcement or other authorities and cooperate with lawful requests.
1.5 Data preservation. We may preserve and retain account records, logs, messages, and related metadata as needed for security investigations, legal compliance, and enforcement.
2) You Are Responsible for Your Account and Users
You are responsible for:
- your own actions and the actions of anyone who accesses the Services through your account (including teammates, contractors, and anyone with access to your message Destinations);
- maintaining appropriate security controls (e.g., strong passwords, MFA, restricted access to webhooks and Slack/Discord/email destinations);
- ensuring your use of the Services complies with this AUP, the Terms, and all applicable laws and regulations.
If you share access to your account or Destinations, you assume all risk and liability for what others do with that access.
3) System Integrity & Platform Abuse (Prohibited)
You may not use the Services in ways that disrupt the platform, evade restrictions, or attempt to extract or abuse resources. Prohibited behavior includes:
- Automation abuse / scraping: Excessively polling the dashboard/API, scraping number inventory, or generating load that degrades performance.
- Bypassing controls: Attempting to bypass authentication, rate limits, device/session controls, payment requirements, or abuse-prevention mechanisms.
- Account cycling: Creating multiple accounts (or using "sockpuppet" accounts) to evade enforcement, limits, or payment.
- Reverse engineering: Decompiling, reverse engineering, attempting to discover source code, or probing for vulnerabilities.
- Infrastructure attacks: DDoS, flooding, packet spoofing, malicious scanning, or any attempt to interfere with networks, systems, or other users.
- Number fishing/cycling: Rapidly cycling numbers, repeated cancellations/re-purchases, or patterns indicating attempts to "hunt" for certain digit patterns, services, or verification acceptance.
We may throttle, restrict, or suspend activity that is abnormal or resource-intensive, even if not explicitly listed above.
5) Fraud, Deception, and Harmful Conduct (Prohibited)
You may not use the Services for any illegal, deceptive, abusive, or harmful activity, including:
5.1 Fraud & impersonation
- Phishing, smishing, social engineering, impersonation of individuals or organizations.
- Identity theft, synthetic identity creation, or document/credential fraud.
- Impersonating banks, payment processors, government agencies, or legitimate businesses.
5.2 Financial crime & unlawful activity
- Money laundering, sanctions evasion, fraud rings, stolen payment methods, chargeback fraud.
- Sale/distribution of illegal goods or controlled substances.
- Human trafficking, terrorism, or facilitation of violent or criminal organizations.
5.3 Harassment, threats, privacy invasion
- Harassment, bullying, threats, intimidation, stalking, or doxxing.
- Collecting or disclosing personal data without a lawful basis or consent.
- Using the Services to facilitate surveillance or privacy invasion.
5.4 Child safety and exploitation
Any content or activity involving child sexual abuse material or exploitation is strictly prohibited and will be reported as required.
6) Spam and Unsolicited Messaging Workflows (Prohibited)
Even though JoltSMS is inbound-only, you may not use it to facilitate spam or unsolicited communication workflows, including:
- Using Dedicated Numbers as reply-catchers for spam campaigns sent through other providers.
- Collecting responses/leads from unsolicited or unlawful messaging.
- Building or validating contact lists through unsolicited communications.
- Triggering "verification floods" (OTP bombing) to harass or overwhelm individuals or services.
If your usage patterns indicate involvement in spam or bulk messaging operations, we may immediately suspend/terminate your account.
7) Third-Party Platform Evasion and "Verified Account" Markets (Prohibited)
You may not use the Services to evade third-party rules or enforcement, including:
- Creating or operating accounts in violation of a third-party platform's Terms (including ban evasion).
- Mass registrations, account farming, or "ageing" accounts for resale.
- Selling, transferring, or trafficking "verified accounts" created using our numbers.
- Using the Services to bypass KYC/identity requirements, geo-restrictions, or platform enforcement.
Team use is allowed only for legitimate shared access within your organization (e.g., colleagues sharing access to a company login). It does not permit renting access to unrelated third parties.
8) Prohibited Content and High-Risk Industries (Carrier/Provider Safety)
To protect deliverability, compliance, and relationships with upstream providers and carriers, the following categories are prohibited (or may be restricted) from use with our Services:
8.1 Prohibited "SHAFT" and similar categories
- Sex/adult content (pornography, escort services, explicit content).
- Hate speech or content promoting violence/discrimination.
- Alcohol sales or promotion where restricted.
- Firearms, weapons, ammunition, explosives or related sales/promotion.
- Tobacco/nicotine/vapes and related products.
8.2 Other high-risk categories (prohibited)
- Gambling, lotteries, sweepstakes, or betting.
- Payday loans, predatory lending, debt collection, "get rich quick" schemes.
- Multi-level marketing (MLM) / pyramid schemes.
- Counterfeit goods, credential markets, cracking tools, stolen data.
- Any activity that is illegal or materially increases carrier/provider compliance risk.
If you believe you have a legitimate use case in a restricted category, you must obtain our prior written approval. We may deny approval for any reason.
9) Resale, Sub-Providers, and "Bureau" Use (Prohibited Without Written Agreement)
Unless you have a separate written reseller or enterprise agreement with Reliable Channel LLC, you may not:
- resell Dedicated Numbers or the Services to third parties;
- provide the Services as a "bureau," marketplace, or managed service where end users are not your employees/contractors acting on your behalf;
- embed our Services into another product where end-users are unaware Reliable Channel LLC is the underlying provider;
- rent/lease numbers to unrelated third parties or allow public access to your inbox/webhook.
10) Investigations and Proof of Compliance
We do not continuously review every Message, but we may monitor and review account activity, metadata, logs, and Message content when reasonably necessary for:
- support,
- fraud/abuse prevention,
- compliance with law,
- carrier/provider requirements,
- enforcing this AUP and the Terms.
We may request information from you (e.g., a description of your use case, proof of authorization, or business verification). Failure to cooperate may result in suspension or termination.
11) Updates to This Policy
We may update this AUP at any time by posting a revised version and updating the "Last Updated" date. Your continued use of the Services after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated AUP.
12) Contact
To report abuse or ask questions about this AUP, contact:
Reliable Channel LLC (JoltSMS)
Email: [email protected]