How to block & report spam text messages on Android and iPhone

Back in the good old days, whenever you received a text message, it was almost always with a purpose and always from someone you knew. These days, SMS feels like a hotbed of spam messages from strangers, bots, scammers, and more, but that’s the reality we’re living in.

Some of these spam messages can even be dangerous because they might contain links to malicious websites that might attempt to steal your information. Some might be phishing websites designed to mimic the look of your bank and trick you into entering your bank’s login credentials.

The best thing to do when you receive these spam messages is to simply ignore them. By not interacting with them, they can’t do anything to you. If you want to go beyond that and block them, then here’s what you need to do.

How to block spam text messages on Android

  1. Open the text message
  2. Tap the three dot menu at the top right corner of the screen
  3. Select Details
  4. Tap on Block & report spam
  5. Check the box that says “Report spam” and then tap on OK

How to block spam text messages on iPhone

  1. Open the Messages app
  2. Tap on the message you want to block
  3. Tap on the sender’s name/number at the top of the screen
  4. Tap on Info
  5. Tap on Info again
  6. Select Block this Caller
  7. Tap on Block Contact

Now that you’ve blocked the spam text messages, you might also want to consider reporting it. Note that reporting a spam message doesn’t necessarily stop it, but it will help carriers (in the US) and other users identify spam messages so that they can be warned about them, especially if they might be malicious in nature or misinformation.

Reporting spam text messages is easy, all you need to do is:

  1. Copy the spam message
  2. Send it to 7726
  3. You will get a reply asking for the number of the text message
  4. Reply with the number and you’re done

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