Smishing & spam text messages

Like robocalls, phishing emails and spam calls, smishing, spam text messages and text scams are on the rise. Typically, smishing scammers will send you text messages that attempt to get you to click a link and then provide personal or financial information about yourself. Smishing is serious and can lead to identity theft. You can report a fraud or identity theft complaint to the Federal Trade Commission.

The statistics speak for themselves. In the United States, $86 million was reported lost in 2020 from frauds originating in scam texts, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In 2020, 334,524 complaints were made, which equaled an average of 916 reports a day. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), heard about 14,000 complaints about scam texts last year. This year there have been  6,900 reports up until late May and the numbers are on the rise, suggesting that the 2020 total will be surpassed in 2021.

As described below, Verizon blocks billions of spam texts behind the scenes and employs numerous measures to help ensure that text messaging remains a trusted way for consumers and organizations to communicate. Because of those measures, the spam text problem is far smaller than the robocall problem, and we are taking various actions both to further improve trust in text messaging and to protect consumers from robocalls.

Verizon is committed to stopping spam text messages. Text messages are among the most trusted ways for consumers to communicate with one another, and for them to receive communications from organizations that they have given permission to text them. Verizon works hard “behind the scenes” to make sure text messages remain trusted. For example:

• Verizon blocks more than a billion text messages every month where scammers are attempting to misuse our consumer services to spam our customers. We do that without examining the content of the messages.
• We require businesses and other organizations sending high volumes of texts to consumers to adhere to industry guidelines that, among other things, require organizations to obtain consumer consent prior to sending texts. This applies to all types of organizations, including political campaigns.
• We are constantly improving our spam monitoring and blocking. Verizon co-founded the Secure Messaging Initiative, where we coordinate with other service providers to identify and shut down illegal text message campaigns.
• Read Tips on Protecting your Mobile Identity

Verizon is committed to ensuring that all wanted communications reach our customers without risk of being blocked as spam.  If you are a business, political campaign, or other organization, here’s how to make sure your organization’s text messages will get through:

You should ensure that the company you use to send messages (the “aggregator”) is committed to complying with the CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices.  A reputable aggregator will ensure that any organization’s text message campaign complies with the guidelines, and Verizon takes measures to ensure that compliant text message campaigns can reach their recipients.

Any organization sending text to consumers, is an A2P (Application-to-Person) campaign. Verizon does not use any blocking filters to prevent A2P messages arriving from other service providers from reaching our customers. Instead, we rely on ensuring that every campaign – regardless of its content – is compliant with the CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices.

• The Best Practices require the organization to demonstrate, among other things, that the recipients of your messages have consented to receive them. 80% of consumers say that consent is crucial.
• An organization that holds itself out as P2P (which means “person-to-person” is reserved for consumers texting other consumers) or is not compliant with the guidelines and its messages may be stopped.  If your aggregator purports to provide a “P2P” solution that does not comply with the A2P requirements, that is not compliant because P2P is only appropriate for consumer texting.

Smishing is a term used to describe phishing attempts and scams that use text messages or (Short Message Service) SMS as the primary attack platform. Smishing is used to  gather different types of  personal information, including address, credit card information and more.

Spam texts (also known as phishing texts or SMS spam) are messages sent by hackers, which attempt to get you to click on a link or divulge personal details such as banking information, credit cards, address or even your social security number. 

Scam types vary, but they will all attempt to rope you in with lucrative offers (like free prize money from a reputed retailer); attempt to get you to divulge information or take action (by pretending to be a friend or family member in need); or dangle fake information about a transaction or account (like a package delivery).

Spam or fake text messages vary in form and content but there are some key guidelines to identify text scams. Here are some common examples:

• The message has no relevance to you. The message is completely random, unprompted and has no connection to you or any activity you’ve undertaken. The spam text message will say you’ve won a contest, a prize or free money. An increasingly popular text scam is one which says there’s a delivery issue with a package. 
• The message is urgent or needs immediate action from you. The message is urging you to act now. These types of fake text messages could pretend to be your bank or a government agency.
• The text message contains misspellings or poor grammar. Spam text messages can be identified by poor grammar, misspelled words and awkward use of language. Real text messages from legitimate businesses will use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling.  
• The text message is coming from a strange phone number or suspicious email address. If a text message is coming from a lengthy and/or suspicious looking email address it is a spam text message.
• The text message contains a suspicious link. This is a huge warning sign. If the text message contains a suspicious looking link, it is a text scam. Do not click on the link or follow prompts from these fake text messages.

There are different kinds of smishing and spam texts. See below for definitions and examples, giving you an overview that’ll help you understand what these scams are.

Knowing what to do and blocking spam texts is one of the best ways to prevent future spam texts and keep your information secure. We’ll be discussing general spam handling and text blocking on iPhones and blocking spam texts on Android phones. And of course, the resources Verizon has for you to block spam texts.

General tips to block spam texts

• Don’t respond to unwanted/suspicious texts. (Not even to say STOP).
• Report spammers to Verizon.
• Filter potential spam texts with tools like Call Filter.
• Block specific spammers in your My Verizon account. 

Blocking spam texts on iPhones

• First, open Settings. 
• Scroll down until you find Messages. Tap it.
• Next, scroll down until you find "Filter Unknown Messages." Turn it on.
• You’re done.
• iOS users can also block persistent senders by using the "Block this Caller" function by pressing on the sending address at the top of the message and then “info” icon.   The option to “Block this Caller” is located at the bottom.

Note:  After following the above steps, when you go into your messages app, you'll see two tabs at the top of the screen. On the left there’s the  "Contacts & SMS" tab. This tab will contain messages from contacts in your address book -- your known contacts. On the right you’ll see the new "Unknown Senders" tab. Now, if you receive a message from a sender who’s not in your address book, you won't get a notification. Instead, it will be dropped into this tab.

Blocking spam Texts on Android phones

• Go to the Messaging app and tap the three dots icon in the upper right-hand of the screen.
• Tap on “Settings,” and then tap on “Spam Protection.”
• Scroll down until you find “Enable Spam Protection.”
• Turn it on by swiping the button to the right.
• You’re done. 

Note: On an Android phone,  you will find several spam text blocking options including unknown callers, recent calls, or from your contact list. You can choose or manually enter a number you wish to block.

Verizon’s resources and services for blocking spam texts. Verizon is committed to your privacy and safety. To that end, we have several resources to help you block spam texts, as well as phishing emails and robocalls. Some useful links are provided below. 

• Phishing Scams
• Account Safety FAQs
• Spam Text Protection (article)
• Understanding Scams
• Manage email-to-text op-in and opt-out FAQs

Spam text messages are on the rise. If you receive a suspicious text message claiming to be from Verizon, please forward it to us right away at S-P-A-M (7726). You can also report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Verizon will never ask for personal or account information by  text message. If you receive a spam text message you should send it to Verizon then DELETE IT IMMEDIATELY.

DO NOT:

• Respond to the text message  in any way
• Click any links
• Open any attachments
• Provide any data to any websites mentioned

Receiving a suspicious message typically will not put you at risk if you do not reply, click on links, or share any personal information. 

If you did click or provide personal information in response to a suspicious text message, you should contact us to help secure your account, and reach out to any financial institutions or other services you believe may be impacted. You can also download the My Verizon App for Android and iOS devices to access enhanced account security features and secure communications with Verizon. 

Peer-to-Peer messaging is text messages that are sent/received by consumers to other consumers using their wireless device.

A2P messaging is any other type of text message. The texts are sent to individuals from businesses, entities, and organizations, after the individual has opted in. A few examples are: Mobile Banking Alerts, Two Factor Authentication, Package Delivery Notifications, Appointment Reminders, School Notifications.

More information can be found related to A2P messaging at CTIA.org.

A2P messages can come from 5 or 6 digit number leased from a short code registry, (www.usshortcode.com), Toll free messaging  are from a text enabled Toll free number (8xx) and Ten Digit Long Code, commonly referred to as 10DLC messaging, which are numbers that look like traditional phone numbers.

Verizon enables A2P messaging through aggregators partners using approved messaging channels. Aggregators listed have direct connectivity to Verizon’s Messaging Platform and can assist in obtaining a Short Code, 10 DLC or an 800 numbers. Infobip, Kaleyra, imimobile, Vibes, Sinch, Zipwhip, Syniverse. Messaging campaigns should meet guidelines outline in Industry Best Practices prior to sending messages to Verizon Customers.

To opt out, reply to the message with STOP. If a text is sent through an approved messaging platform, your opt out request should be honored. You should also report the message as SPAM by forwarding it to 7726. This allows us to identify problematic messages and take action quickly.

Political Messaging are text messages from political campaigns or special interest groups. The text messages might be used to inform, engage or organize voter participation.

If you are a message sender and you want to send your political campaign text messages through, please follow these:

• Obtain a consumer’s opt-in consent to receive messages;
• Ensure that consumers have the ability to opt-out from receiving all future messages from a particular message sender and honor consumer opt-outs; and
• Take these steps described to not send unwanted messages.