How to Stop Spam Messages on Android or iOS: A Complete Guide!

Spam messages can be frustrating. From advertisements to job offers and promotions to fraud, spam messages can come anytime. Many people fall for these messages and lose a hefty amount of money. In this article, we will prepare you to recognize spam and share ways in which you can Stop Spam Messages on Android or iOS devices to get a safe and secure texting platform.

How to Identify a Spam Message?

There are a variety of spam message types, ranging from simple advertisements asking you to purchase something to a Phishing message. You can also get scam messages, fall into the trap, and end up losing money. 

We will try to cover some types of spam messages with the example below:

1 Promotional Messages

Generally, these messages promote or advertise a new or already existing product. You can get some discount offers or information about the latest sale of a brand. These messages are broadcasted by the brands and are generally harmless. It only requests you to go see their product to make it bloom. For Example, you must have been getting messages from a brand with a discount coupon on their latest products.

2. Phishing Messages

You can also get messages from some Phishing account where they pretend to become a concerned POC of a bank or a police officer, trying to reveal your personal information. They will get your general details like name, phone number, and address, and based on this, try to retrieve information like your bank account number or pin, password, or OTP. For instance, you can get a Phishing message saying your Bank Account password is expiring, and click on the link below to reset it. Such messages may cause you harm if you interact with them.

3. Scam Messages

Scam messages are some reward or unrealistic opportunity you receive from a text. They can inform you about the lottery you won but will ask you to pay some initial amount to them to confirm your bank details. If you do so, they will have your personal information and can misuse it later.

4. Premium Rate Scam Messages

Premium rate scam messages will inform you about a hefty reward you won and will ask you to message or call a premium rate number. These numbers generally cost an excessive amount of money when contacted. You will end up paying a hefty amount for a short phone call or revert text message.

Stop Spam Messages on Android or iOS

Android devices provide a lot of options to avoid scam messages. You can filter them post receipt using a third-party app or even before reaching you with some keywords. Google also provides built-in functionality to filter and label a spam message. 

How to Filter & Block Spam Messages from Coming to Your Device?

1. Open the Google Message app and tap the profile icon at the top panel of the screen.
2. Scroll down to find Spam Protection.
3. Turn on the toggle button to apply Spam protection to your message inbox.

How to Block Spam Text Messages on Android?

When you receive a spam message, you have an option to block the number from which you got the message. This way, you will no longer receive text messages from the sender again. To block a sender on Android, use the below steps:

1. Launch your Message Inbox and navigate to the message whose sender you wish to block.
2. Tap the three-dot icon at the top right corner of the message.
3. Click block number.

If you are persistently getting messages from the same number, you can block their number to stop spam messages from that number.

How to Report Scam Messages on Android?

1. Open the Message inbox on your device and navigate to the message you wish to report. 
2. Tap and hold the message for a while to get a floating menu window. Make sure you don’t click any link on the message while doing this.
3. Tap “copy” in the menu to copy the message on the clipboard.
4. Go to your inbox and click on the new text by clicking the ‘+’ button at the bottom right of your screen. Paste the copied message on the text box and send it to 7726. This number will work for US providers.
5. Send the message to report the text and mark it as a scam. You will no longer receive messages from this number moving forward.

How to Stop Spam Messages on iOS?

Spam calls and messages can be irritating. To avoid them, you can either filter the unknown spam messages or block and report such numbers to avoid text from them.

How to filter Unknown Senders on iOS?

From iOS 14 onwards, Apple offers an option to filter messages from unknown senders. If you haven’t saved a number on your device, you can filter and block messages from unknown numbers. Use the below messages to enable this setting on your iOS device:

1. Open Settings on your mobile device.
2. Scroll down to find Message.
3. Turn on the toggle button next to Filter Unknown Silence.

You will find all the messages from unknown sender in a separate section. If you want to review them, you can go to the unknown sender tab and see them.

How to Block or Report a Sender on an iOS device

If you want to block a number on your iOS device, you can use the below steps:

1. Open Settings on your iOS device and scroll down to find Phone. 
2. Scroll down to find Blocked Contacts.
3. Tap Add new and select the contact you wish to block.

After blocking, you won’t receive messages or phone calls from the number.

How to Report a Message as Junk

1. Open the Message app on your iOS device and go to the message you wish to report as junk
2. Tap and hold the message to find the menu.
3. Click Delete and Report Junk.

You will also find a Report Junk link at the bottom of a message from an unknown sender.

Wind Up 

Spam messages are a lot in fashion these days. They cause severe scams, and if not that, lots of junk messages can be irritating. If you wish to Stop Spam messages on Android or iOS devices, you can use the above methods to filter Spam messages and block or report their sender.