Luck ran out for a retired man in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province after his mobile service provider locked his account for mass texting the word "bet," local media reported Thursday.
The 69-year-old retiree surnamed Gao said he was chatting with friends about Tu Youyou, China's 2015 Nobel Prize winner in medicine, when he sent the seemingly innocuous group text, "I bet you Tu Youyou will [go to Sweden to] accept the honor."
Gao, a China Mobile user, was surprised to find his service turned off Tuesday morning.
A company employee later explained it was the word "bet" in a mass text that resulted in the lockout, Nandu Daily reported.
Gao was outraged when he was told in order to have his service reactivated he must pen a statement promising he will not text spam messages.
"I did not send a spam message. Why should I write a guarantee?" said Gao.
The issue has yet to be resolved, according to reports.
According to China Mobile, telcom companies automatically scan their networks for keywords such as "bet," "bank card," "violent," "drugs," "property," and "invoice."
Service lockouts for spam messaging require approval from public security officials.
