Are you getting a lot of spam text messages? It can get tiring to be interrupted by a notification on your iPhone, only to find it's yet another junk message. Like phishing emails, these messages are often the starting point for scammers targeting potential victims. These scammers may pose as marketers selling a product or as ordinary people trying to connect with a friend but pretending to have the wrong number.
The good news is that you can stop these using a feature already available in iOS -- it's just a little hidden. Here's how you do it.
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What you'll need: To follow this tutorial, you'll need the latest version of iOS available for your device.
Incoming spam calls are a nuisance; if you're having that problem, you can either block specific numbers via your phone app, you can add your number to the National Do Not Call Registry, or block all calls from unknown numbers. To do the latter, follow these steps:
Go to your iPhone Settings Tap on Apps Select Phone Find and enable Silence Unknown CallersWhen you do this, unknown callers will go straight to voicemail and can leave you a message. You'll only receive incoming calls from people in your contacts and recent outgoing calls. The calls from unknown callers will show up in your recent calls, and you'll be able to listen to the voicemail they've left, if there is one.
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Remember that if someone calls you from a number that is not saved in your contacts, you may miss important calls.
The tutorial above will let you live in ignorant bliss of whoever is trying to reach you, but you can also go a step further and report messages as junk. Here's how you can report junk messages on your iPhone:
Open the message in your Unknown Senders list Tap on Report Junk below the messageiPhone messages from unknown senders display a text below them saying, "This sender is not in your contact list. Report Junk." This is where you can report the message.
If you keep getting messages from the same sender after reporting them, you can also block the sender altogether, which won't let them send you messages or call you. To block a specific number on your iPhone, follow these steps:
Open the message in your Unknown Senders list Tap on the sender's number at the top of the screen Tap on the Info button on the right Select Block this callerThe necessity for increased vigilance in certain situations -- like deliveries and communication with certain organizations -- when someone is expecting a message, is likely why the Filter Unknown Senders feature is turned off by default. After all, this option is meant for iPhone users who don't want to be bothered by messages from people they don't know or scammers, but it can't be turned on by default when a fresh new iPhone is void of any contacts in the address book.
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Remember those "extended car warranty" calls that got popular a couple of years ago? This annoyance made government agencies like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and cellphone companies crack down and take measures to stop them.
Some phone companies started flagging incoming calls as "Spam Caller" or "Scam Likely," making it easier for individual users to decline calls and block numbers. People blocking incoming calls from unknown numbers have made scammers switch to other avenues, which is one reason why spam text messages are at an all-time high.
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