It is totally disappointing that you opened your phone because someone texted you only to read that the message is just a spam, or a junk message that is sent to you by a spammer that tries to con you into clicking on a link that is provided on the text message, by opening an attachment, or calling a number, or just by doing something else that is likely to cause you a lot of trouble.
Spam messages are a fact of life and just like spam calls or junk emails, however, that does not mean that you have to put up with these scams, or just as you can with spam phone calls, you can actually block and stop spam messages by doing some tricks, techniques and a couple of tools that you will need in eliminating all these pesky spam messages.
These spam messages may not be as invasive as the spam calls, considering that you can easily ignore them, however, that does not mean that these types of text messages are completely harmless. Depending on your smartphone plan, you can get charged for incoming text messages, so there is already some financial burden, and from there, things can even get worse and harmful if you are not careful at all.
By record, there have been numerous victims of these spam messages regardless if these are manually typed in or computer-generated to victimize people, particularly through identity theft. Some of these spam texts do not just provide you a suspicious link to a website offering you cash or money because you won a raffle, there are also text messages that pretend to be someone you know, particularly a relative that needs financial help and provides you a bank account number or an online account number to send money as soon as possible.
If you accidentally clicking on a link or the attachment in a spam message, this could trigger a malware which infects your smartphone. To add more, if you have ever responded to a spam message, you can even accidentally, tag your phone number as a valid and may have been disseminated to other scammers which increases the chances to get a higher volume of junk messages, so, how can you deal with spam messages? Check out the list of tips below to know more, or you can check out this website. If you have a virus you may need to smartphone repairs from these guys at BreakFixNow.
1. You should not reply at all costs– First off, a lot of legitimate messages that look like spam texts have an option to text STOP to tell the company to remove your number from its distribution list, however, that kind of action just confirmed to the scammer that your number existed because your reply “STOP” to the spam message which will trigger them to flood you with more spam messages unless you know the text came from a legitimate entity which honors such requests, you are better off not replying to these messages at all costs.
2. Block the handphone numbers in your Phone– You can block a number which has been sending you these spam messages. On your Phone, you can open the text message that you received, tap the phone number at the top of the screen, and then tap also the information button. Once you are at the details screen, you can tap the phone number and select the option to block this caller completely.
3. Block the phone numbers in your Android smartphone– On your Android smartphone, you can open the text message, tap the three-dot icon in the upper right corner of the messaging screen and select the option to block the number. However, the drawback with this kind of solution is that the spammers typically spoof or just switch phone numbers easily on their end. Even if you already blocked the number, you can still receive messages from the same spammer by using a different number this time.
4. Report the Spammer– You can report a spam message to your mobile carrier or network by forwarding it to a specific number depending on your mobile network provider, or you just have to select the original message and text it to 7726 which is spelled out as a SPAM on your dialer. This works in many network providers which all of whom will be using the information to block the future spam messages that you receive on your cellphone.
5. Filter out spammers– On your smartphone, you can easily disable all the potential spam calls and in order to do this, you can open the Phone application. Tap the three-dot icon in the upper right corner of your messaging screen and select the settings. From the settings screen, you can easily tap the option for the caller ID and the Spam. You can turn on the switch for both and then turn on the switch for filter spam calls and from there, your phone will regularly alert you if an incoming call or message is suspected of being a spam. If you have a Google dialer installed in your phone, you can easily add a number to your block list.
You can call these guys at BreakFixNow, a handphone repair shop which specializes in fixing types of problems.