How to Block Spam Texts
Do you also receive a lot of spam text messages? I do, for both random spam and for some reason various political campaigns in Texas. We have several suggestions to deal with this problem.
Spam Safety
Don't click on links in a spam message, or they'll detect the click and assume you're interested. For the same reason, if you try to copy/paste a phone number, be sure not to call it. Even if the message says to reply with "stop," try to avoid that since that lets them know you've read their spam.
Report the Spam
All U.S. carriers have a text-spam reporting system. Forward the text to 7726 (the letters SPAM on a keypad). Some, like AT&T, will reply and request the number of the sender. This isn't going to block anything but hopefully will help with future automated detection by your phone company.
On iOS, tap and hold the message, and tap "More..." in the popup menu. Tap the right arrow at the bottom of the screen.
On Android, tap and hold the message. Tap the 3-dot menu in the upper right. Tap Forward, which lists recently used numbers. To send to a new number (7726) tap New Message.
Block the Sender
This idea only helps if you get repeated messages from the same number. Otherwise, to be blunt, you'll be wasting your time.
On an iPhone, open the message. Tap the number the top of the screen ("+1 (333) 555-1111 >"). Tap the Info button/icon. At the bottom of that screen tap Block This Caller.
On Android, tap and hold on the message. Click the three-dot menu in the upper right and tap Block to block it. On some versions, open the three-dot icon in the upper right, and open Settings. Tap on Block Numbers to view a list of recent calls/texts.
Filter Unknown Senders
For iOS, open Settings, then Messages. Scroll down to open the "Unknown & Spam" menu. Enable Filter Unknown Senders. This puts messages from senders who are not in your contacts into a separate folder under Messages. Note this includes any number not in your contacts, such as many business "short code" numbers like MFA verification codes. So you may want to add those. I have several, listed under "Text - CompanyName."
On Android, open the three-dot icon in the upper right, and open Settings. Open Spam Protection, then in that area enable the Spam Protection setting. With this enabled, your phone may need to send information about your calls to Google.
Filter With An App
There are several apps that hook into the "filter unknown senders" feature to provide filtering by keyword, or AI. I have personally used VeroSMS on iOS, which has free and paid options. There are several others, and sometimes cell phone companies will recommend one or even provide it for free. Note these apps will need access to your messages so there should be a degree of trust in the app provider. These can offer a finer level of control by facilitating allow/block keywords, or AI analysis.
October 2022
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