On the left side, click Unwanted Telemarketing, Text, or Spam, then Text from the list. Visit the FTC's Complaint Assistant page to report spam to it. It can't hurt to let additional authorities know about the problem, so it's worth taking a moment for especially annoying spam. To file a report if your carrier doesn't support it, or just to go a step further, you can also report spam texts to the FTC and FCC. At worst, you'll receive a message saying it's invalid. If you don't have one of the above carriers, you can still try forward your message to 7726. An automated service will respond asking for the number that sent it you're all set after that.
If you're a Sprint customer, feel free to forward any spam texts you get to 7726 to report them. You'll receive confirmation, then T-Mobile forwards the message to its "security center" to analyze and take action. Like the other providers, you can simply forward spam texts to 7726 to report them to T-Mobile. Providing this information helps AT&T reduce spam texts across its network. There's a spot to report the website it wanted you to visit or the number it wanted you to call. If you'd like, you can provide additional information like the time you received the message and what the message wanted you to do. On this page, you can enter the number you want to report, along with your phone number. In addition to this, visiting AT&T's Report Unwanted Calls & Texts page lets you provide additional information. Those on AT&T can forward also spam texts to 7726 for investigation. From here, you can start a new message to 7726 by entering it at the top. Select More from the menu that appears, then tap the arrow in the bottom-right corner to forward. IPhone users should long-press the message you want to report (be careful not to tap any links).
In case you're not sure how to forward messages, let's review how this works on Android and iOS. If you have a limited texting plan, rest assured that messages sent to and received from 7726 do not count toward your plan with all major providers.
Depending on your carrier, you may be asked for more info, like the number that sent the message. Simply forward any spam messages you get to 7726 (which spells SPAM on a keypad) to report it. Most of the major US carriers are participants, meaning you can use the provided shortcode number to report spam texts. The Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSMA, is a group that represents hundreds of mobile providers worldwide. Thankfully, reporting spam texts only takes a moment. In most cases, legitimate services let you text STOP to cancel promotional SMS texts.Īnd while political messages are annoying, they technically don't fall under spam the same way that the other nonsense does. This means that if you signed up for text alerts about sales or similar from a retailer, those aren't spam because you gave them permission to send you those messages. This includes political surveys or fundraising messages. If a company has a relationship with you, it can send you things like statements or warranty information.Non-commercial messages. Transactional or relationship types of messages. However, the FTC notes that the following types of messages are exceptions: It's also illegal to send unsolicited text messages from an auto-dialer-equipment that stores and dials phone numbers using a random or sequential number generator. It's illegal to send unsolicited commercial email messages to wireless devices, including cell phones and pagers, unless the sender gets your permission first. On its Text Message Spam page, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) outlines its rules in the following statement: Thankfully, a phone number is a bit easier to track down than an email address, so reporting spam texts can help the appropriate authorities put a stop to it. Sending thousands of texts is far easier than doing the same through the physical mail, which makes SMS attractive to spammers. For those who have a limited texting plan, receiving these messages is also waste of money. If you proceed through these links, you'll typically be asked for your personal information in order to "redeem the offer." Of course, giving these details provides them to spammers so they can bug you with more junk-or worse, try to steal your identity.Įven if you know to ignore these messages, they take up space in your inbox. This might come in the form of "special offers", claims that you've won a contest, ads for financial services, and similar. The term refers to any unwanted messages, which are usually ads and other junk distributed en masse. Just so we're all on the same page, it's worth taking a moment to define what a spam text is.Īs you'd expect, text message spam is similar to email spam.