Spam texts have gone from a trickle to a flood, and a lot of them are not just adverts — they are scams designed to steal money or logins. The good news is that a few free, built-in tools cut the volume sharply. The key is to handle them in the right order and to resist the one thing that makes it worse: responding. This guide walks through what to do, on both iPhone and Android, without any paid apps.

Many of the worst spam texts are a form of phishing sent by SMS, nicknamed “smishing.” If you want the fuller picture of how those tricks work, our explainer on what phishing is is a good companion to this page.

Do not reply, and do not tap any links

This is the single most important habit, and it is worth being honest about why.

  1. Do not reply at all to a message you believe is a scam — not even “STOP.” To a scammer, any reply confirms a real person reads that number, which makes it more valuable and sells it onward.
  2. Do not tap links. Links in unexpected texts often lead to fake login or payment pages built to steal your details. A shortened or odd-looking web address is a strong warning sign.
  3. Do not call back a number from a suspicious text, and do not dial any number the text provides. The callback itself can be part of the scam.
  4. Do not share codes or details. No real bank, delivery company, or government office will text you asking for a password, PIN, or a one-time code.

If the text claims to be from a company you actually use, contact that company through its official app or the number on the back of your card — never through the text.

It helps to recognise the common disguises. The big ones right now are fake parcel-delivery notices (“your package could not be delivered, confirm your address”), fake unpaid-toll or road-charge demands, fake bank-fraud alerts, and the odd “wrong number” text that turns friendly and slowly steers you toward an investment or crypto scam. They all share a tell: they create urgency and push you to tap or reply fast. Slowing down is itself a defence.

Forward the spam to 7726 (SPAM)

Before you delete a spam text, report it to your carrier. On every major US network this is free and does not use your plan’s messages.

  1. Open the spam message and copy the text, or use your phone’s forward option.
  2. Forward it to 7726 — those digits spell SPAM on a keypad.
  3. Your carrier may text back asking for the sender’s number. If so, reply with the number the spam came from.
  4. That is it — you can now delete the original. Your carrier uses these reports to recognise and block similar messages across its network.

Forwarding to 7726 does not stop that exact sender instantly, but it is one of the most effective things you can do, because it improves the filters that protect millions of people at once.

Block and report the sender on iPhone

After reporting to 7726, shut the sender down on your own phone.

  1. Open the spam conversation in the Messages app.
  2. If you see a Report Junk link under the message, tap it, then tap Delete and Report Junk. This sends a report to Apple and your carrier and removes the message.
  3. To block the sender too, tap the sender’s number or name at the top, tap Info, then Block this Caller.
  4. Confirm the block. Future texts and calls from that number will be silenced.

Report Junk appears mainly for numbers that are not in your contacts, so you may not always see it — in that case, blocking plus a 7726 forward does the job.

Block and report the sender on Android

Steps vary slightly by phone brand, but Google Messages is the common app and works like this.

  1. Open the spam conversation in the Messages app.
  2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right.
  3. Tap Block (or “Block & report spam”).
  4. Make sure Report spam is ticked in the pop-up, then confirm. This blocks the sender and reports the message to help Google’s filters.

If your phone uses Samsung Messages or another app, look for the same options behind the menu or by pressing and holding the conversation. The wording changes but the idea is identical.

Be honest with yourself about blocking, though. It is satisfying and it stops that exact number, but serious spam operations spin up fresh numbers constantly and often spoof legitimate-looking ones. So blocking is a useful cleanup for repeat pests rather than a wall that keeps everything out. Treat it as one layer among several, and lean on the filtering settings in the next step to do the heavier lifting automatically.

Turn on filtering for unknown senders

Blocking is reactive — it deals with spam after it arrives. Filtering is proactive and quietly removes a large share before you ever see it.

  1. On iPhone, open Settings > Apps > Messages (or just Settings > Messages on older versions) and turn on Filter Unknown Senders. Texts from numbers not in your contacts move to a separate tab.
  2. On Android with Google Messages, open the app, tap your profile icon or the three-dot menu > Messages settings > Spam protection, and switch on Enable spam protection.
  3. Check the filtered or spam folder occasionally, since the odd genuine message can land there by mistake.

These filters are not perfect, but they are the setting that makes the biggest everyday difference, and they cost nothing.

Use your carrier’s free blocking tools

US carriers offer their own spam-blocking services, and many are switched on by default or free to add.

  1. Look for your carrier’s security or spam-blocking app (the major networks each have one) and install it from your app store.
  2. Sign in with your account and turn on scam and spam message filtering in its settings.
  3. Alternatively, sign in to your carrier’s website or account app and look under call and message blocking.
  4. Some carriers let you block texts from email addresses and specific number ranges, which are common spam sources, so check those options.

If a particular number keeps slipping through, our guide on how to block a number walks through every method in more detail.

Register with Do Not Call — and know its limits

In the US, the National Do Not Call Registry is free and quick, but it is important to be realistic about what it does.

  1. Go to the official registry at donotcall.gov (or call from the phone you want to register).
  2. Enter your mobile number and email and confirm the registration.
  3. Understand the limit: this legally stops most telemarketing calls and texts from legitimate companies, usually within about a month.
  4. It does not stop scam texts. Criminal operations already break the law, so the registry means nothing to them.

Think of Do Not Call as tidying up the legal, low-level marketing — useful, but not the tool that stops fraud.

Report scams to the FTC

For texts that are clearly scams, reporting to the Federal Trade Commission helps authorities track the big operations behind them.

  1. Go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov from any browser.
  2. Choose the option for an unwanted text or message and describe what you received.
  3. Include the sender’s number and the message content if you still have them.
  4. Submit the report. You will not get a personal reply, but your report joins a database that fuels enforcement.

A few habits also cut off the supply at the source. Be sparing about where you type your mobile number — online forms, prize draws, and “text to get a discount” offers often feed marketing and data-broker lists. When a form lets you leave the phone field blank, do. And resist the urge to engage with spam even to tell it off, because any interaction, including an angry reply, marks your number as live.

Done together — no replies, a 7726 forward, a block and report, a filter switched on, careful sharing of your number, and an FTC report for the worst ones — these steps will noticeably quiet your inbox. Be realistic, though: spammers rotate numbers endlessly, so the goal is to reduce the flood to a trickle, not to reach zero. No single method, and no paid app, can stop spam texts completely.