

#Spam texts how to
Video: How to upcycle and recycle your old gadgets and smartphones They also know how to manipulate you by making you feel sad, scared or embarrassed. They tailor their scams based on current events - think of the spike in covid vaccine-related scams this past year. Scammers read the news, use online services and put their pants on one leg at a time, she said.

When trying to tell the difference between legitimate texts and spam, Porter says she has an unlikely mantra: "Scammers are people too."

Our readers say they're bombarded with romance scams, fake updates from Amazon and phony communications from banks. Like you describe, some spam texts are obvious solicitation, asking if you want to buy something or sign up for a service. Other readers have written in with concerns about scammy and spammy texts. How can I block them?Ī: You aren't alone. Q: I have an iPhone and get unwanted solicitations by texts. Now, the good news: You can take steps to receive fewer spam texts, and if you do fall for one, there are ways to pump the breaks before scammers further mess with your accounts, devices or wallet. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. That's a big jump, and it's likely because scammers are realizing that people are too familiar with phone scams to fall for them at the same rate, RoboKiller vice president Giulia Porter said. A report from spam-blocking app RoboKiller found that spam texts increased 58 percent in 2021 from 2020. I get a dozen texts every week filled with weight-loss psychobabble, while my husband is dogged by technically-legal-but-still-not-awesome political outreach and fearmongering.įirst, the bad news: These texts aren't going away any time soon. Lastly, since spammers rarely stop at one message, you may also want to use your phone’s blocking capabilities to ensure that future messages from the same spammer don’t get through.Spam texts are a strange mix of predatory, nonsensical and too good to be true. However, if your phone carrier does not allow you to forward the message, you can still report the spam text to the FCC by filing a complaint on the FCC’s official government website. Reportedly, many large carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon will allow you to do this.
#Spam texts android
On an Android phone, the process is similar to an iPhone you only need to tap the message you want to block, select “Details” from the menu, and then click “Block & report spam.”įor other phones, the process can vary depending on your carrier and phone type, but it’s a good idea to check with your carrier to see if you’re able to forward spam texts to 7726. If you don’t have an iPhone, you might be wondering how to stop spam texts on other types of phones. This will place any messages from people that aren’t on your contacts list into a separate folder.Īdobe How To Stop Spam Texts On Other Phones For example, under Settings, you can turn on filtering for unknown senders. In addition to reporting spam, there are other features available on iPhones that can help cut down on unwanted messages. Still, considering that it takes just a couple of seconds to report the spam, it seems like this hack is worth doing for even a small reduction in spam messages on your iPhone. Not only does this forward the message to the FCC to investigate, but it should also add the message’s sender to your Blocked Contacts list on your iPhone.Īlthough claims that reporting the spam will ensure that you’ll “never be bothered again,” the reality is that spammers are constantly changing their phone numbers. You’ll then want to type out the number 7726, aka “SPAM,” as the recipient. Instead, press down on the text until a drop-down menu appears, tap the “more” button, and then press the arrow at the bottom of the screen to forward the text. How To Stop Spam Texts On An iPhoneĪccording to the next time you receive a spam text on your iPhone, don’t just delete it.

After all, sending unwanted commercial texts to someone without their consent is in direct violation of the 2003 CAN-SPAM Act. Taking action to report the spam has the extra benefit of preventing the spammer from contacting you again and putting them on the FCC’s radar to investigate. According to the below video from TikTok user you can report unwanted spam texts to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and block the spammer on your iPhone in a few simple steps.Ĭheck out the helpful TikTok video here: romeo oh romeo #iphonetricks #lifehacks #funfacts If you have an iPhone, there is even a shortcut that you can use. Fortunately, figuring out how to stop spam texts is not as difficult as it seems. Receiving spam texts on your phone isn’t just annoying, it also comes with the risk that you could fall for a phishing scam or click on a link that downloads malware to your phone.
