A proposal to force cell phone companies to block specific spam texts is gaining momentum. Meanwhile, there are simple things you can do right now to stop spam text, which I’ll get to shortly.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has expressed his support for a proposal by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to end illegal and malicious texts. By doing so, he joined all attorneys general from the other 50 states and Washington, D.C., who had all previously supported the proposal.
What exactly does this proposal hope to accomplish?
In a letter signed by all 51 attorneys general to the FCC, supporting them in their hopes to require cellular providers to block illegal text messages from invalid or unused numbers, as well as blocking any phone numbers found on a “do not originate” list, numbers which have previously been proved to have been used for fraudulent activity.
The US attorneys general are urging the FCC to go a step further, however, by developing authentication software that would help determine if a text message is from a known or likely spammer. This would be similar to how many spam or fraudulent phone calls are listed as “potential spam” on smartphones, thanks to the STIR/SHAKEN technology implemented in 2021.
Millions of Dollars Were Lost in Text Scams
According to a report by the Federal Trade Commission, US cell phone users lost a collective $131 million as a result of fraudulent text messages in 2021, namely from texts that included phishing links or downloads for malware and other harmful software.
How to look out for Spam Texts
What makes it so easy to fall for these scams is the fact that they often appear completely harmless, usually coming from a trusted service like your wireless provider or UPS. In some cases, they might also be posing as the IRS, warning you that a warrant is out for your arrest if you don’t pay unpaid back taxes, or conversely, that you’ve been granted a relief fund.
Always remember, the IRS or any body of government will never contact you via text message, and very rarely even contact you by phone. Likewise, a legitimate service like UPS, or a trusted store like Best Buy or Amazon also likely won’t contact you via text message unless you explicitly requested it.
Before hitting the link sent to you via text, it’s always wise to ask yourself if you requested to be contacted by text and then take a closer look at the number, which should make it pretty clear if they are. claiming to be who they said. Should you receive a spam or suspicious text message, follow these steps to protect yourself further:
- Report the attempted scam to the FCC by forwarding them to 7726
- Never type STOP to prevent them from contacting you again. Doing so won’t stop them, but it could result in your being texted even more.
- When in doubt, never tap a link sent to you by a number you find suspicious.
How to block spam texts on your phone
Android and iPhone allow you to block any unknown or potentially dangerous numbers from texting you.
iPhone
iPhone gives you the option of filtering unknown numbers and blocking them.
To filter unknown numbers:
- Open Settings
- Tap Messages
- Turn on Filter Unknown Senders
- When you open your messages, you will find that your texts have been divided into four categories, “All Messages,” “Known Senders,” “Unknown Senders,” “Unread Messages” and ‘Recently Deleted.”
- All messages from an unknown number will be sent to Unknown Senders, and you will not receive a notification.
Just be mindful that this also might include a new acquaintance to whom you have just given your contact information. So, if you are expecting a text from them that you haven’t received, check to see if it is in that folder. Likewise, if a new acquaintance gives you their number and you expect to hear from them, make sure you enter them as a contact on your phone.
If you receive a suspicious text, block the number, preventing them from contacting you again.
To block a spam number:
- Open the spam text message
- Tap on the profile Icon with the number underneath it
- Tap info
- Tap block this caller
- Tap block contact
Android
Android similarly offers two services to help you evade spam text messages: Spam Protection and blocking specific numbers.
Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer.
To enable spam protection:
- Open the Messages app
- Tap the tree dots icon in the upper right-hand corner
- Tap Settings
- Tap Spam Protection
- Tap Enable Spam Protection
To block a phone number:
- Open the Spam Text Message
- Tap the three dots icon in the upper right-hand corner
- Tap Add To Blocklist
Samsung
To enable spam protection on a Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, you can follow these steps:
- Open the Settings app
- Scroll down and click on Apps
- Tap on the Messages app
- Scroll down and click App notifications
- Toggle on the Spam protection option
This will enable the spam protection feature for the Messages app, which should help to identify and filter out spam messages.
You can also block specific numbers from the “Messages” app by following these steps:
- Open the Messages app on your phone.
- Find the spam message that you want to block.
- Tap and hold on message until a menu appears.
- Tap on the Block/report spam option.
- Confirm that you want to block the sender.
Once you have blocked the sender, you will no longer receive messages from them.
You can also block numbers from the “Settings” app by going to:
- Apps
- Then Messages
- Go to Block numbers
- Here, you can add the number that you want to block to the block list.
Spam blocking apps
There are also several highly recommended apps designed to block malicious texts, among our most recommended:
Nomoboro:
- Winner of the FTC Robocall challenge
- Protects you from spam texts and callers
- $2 a month for each mobile phone
- 14 Day-free trial
- Available for Android and iPhone
- Free for Android and iPhone
- Transcribes voicemails, saving you the trouble of listening to them
- Free reverse phone number database
- Caller ID, which even weeds out suspicious numbers
- Focused on blocking spam texts from unknown numbers
- Allows you to create keyword-specific blocks
- Also blocks out email addresses and phone number ranges
- Creates separate folders of known senders and unknown senders and junk
Invest in a trusted antivirus program
Another way to protect your phone from coming in contact with any possible malware send to you via a malicious text is to have a trusted antivirus program installed on your phone. One of the top anti-virus apps for both Android and iPhone is TotalAV. Their product is full of features to keep you safe from malware and protect you when browsing the internet including ransomware protection, real-time antivirus protection, elimination of viruses and malware, a tool to free up your computer’s space, plus more.
Limited-time deal for CyberGuy readers: $19 your first year (80% off)
You can check out our review of other antivirus apps, here: Best Antivirus Security Software and Apps to Protect You.
How to keep spammers from getting your phone number
Regrettably, there is a high probability that your phone number is readily available on many lists sold by data brokers to hundreds of people search websites. However, if you remove it from the web it can reduce the likelihood of spammers and telemarketers obtaining your number and contacting you.
A service like Incogni can help you remove all this personal information from the internet. It has a very clean interface and will scan 195 websites for your information and remove it and keep it removed.
Special for CyberGuy Readers (60% off): Incogni offers A 30-day money-back guarantee and then charges a special CyberGuy discount only through the links in this article of $6.49/month for one person (billed annually) or $13.19/month for your family (up to 4 people) on their annual plan and get a fully automated data removal service, including recurring removal from 175+ data brokers. I recommend the family plan because it works out to only $4.12 per person per month for year-round coverage. It’s an excellent service, and I highly recommend at least trying it out to see what it’s all about.
Related:
- Dangerous texts targeting your phone
- New Ways to Stop Robocalls & Texts
- 3 dangerous gift card scams targeting Americans
- How to stop spam text messages on your phone
- Beware of malware disguised as legitimate apps
- How to tell if your phone has been hacked
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1 comment
Kurt, that’s a lot of work to remember to add someone to your contact list every time that someone new texts you. I like the concept but would go to sleep worrying whether I added someone new to my list of contacts or not. My personal solution is for Congress to charge one penny for each text we send and those who send out a hundred thousand texts per day would pay the price, or, better yet, have that penny go into my account instead of the government’s.