If you’re block fraudulent SMS activity about the security of your smartphone or tablet, you can proactively block fraudulent SMS activity to protect yourself. These apps and features draw on massive databases of spam messages, phishing attempts, and more to sift through suspicious communications to help keep your device safe.

SMS fraud is a serious problem that can lead to identity theft, malware infections, and other dangerous consequences for you and your devices. In the past, criminals have used SMS to trick people into sharing personal information; click on links that download malware onto their phones; or disclose sensitive transaction and account information.

The best way to prevent these kinds of scams is by never responding to them or interacting with them in any way. Legitimate companies don’t ask for sensitive information like your account password or government ID number via text message, and it’s important to recognize the signs of a spam text so you can report it quickly and avoid falling victim to a malicious attack.

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You can use your phone’s built-in SMS filters and third-party messaging apps to weed out unwanted communication from unknown numbers on most phones. For example, on iPhone, you can filter or report a message from an unknown sender in Messages by tapping the message and selecting Edit, then tapping the Options icon (3 dots) and selecting Block. If you want to proactively block all messages and calls from a specific sender on Android, open the relevant messaging app and long-press the message and select Block.