Best way to stop spam texts for good

October 23, 2024

By Kim Komando

“Official notice from USPS. Your delivery is on hold.” I wonder why …

“Hi, how are you?” Who could this be?

“You won!” Lucky me!

These scammy texts have one goal: To get you to respond so they can trick you into giving them your money, sharing your login credentials or letting them install malware. Scammers are getting sneakier, and they’re succeeding.

Americans lost a whopping $2.7 billion to imposter scams in 2023. This includes any scam where someone pretends to be someone they’re not — a friend, a business or even a government agency. Text messages have become the go-to tool for these cons, because fewer people are answering unknown calls — but everyone reads their texts.

Don’t let yourself become a statistic. I have a list of sure spam signs to watch for and my secret weapon for stopping spam in the first place.

How to spot scam texts

Why are scam texts so common? The FTC says the average open rate for texts is an astounding 98% compared to just 20% for email. No wonder scammers love using them. Here’s how to spot them:

• Urgent language: Scam texts often use alarming or urgent language, like “Your account is suspended!” or “You must act now!” They try to create a sense of panic, hoping you’ll click a link without thinking.
• Unfamiliar senders: Scammers often use random numbers to impersonate companies or services.
• Links or attachments: If the message contains a link or attachment you weren’t expecting, don’t tap it. Scammers use these to steal your information or fool you into installing malware on your device.
• Personal information requests: Legitimate companies won’t ask for your sensitive information, like passwords, Social Security numbers or credit card details, via text.
• Too-good-to-be-true offers: Texts promising cash prizes, free gifts or rewards for little or no effort are almost always scams.
• Spoofed company names: Some scammers use company names or slight misspellings (e.g., “Amaz0n” instead of “Amazon”) to trick you into thinking the message or sender is legit.

‘We need your help to win this election!’

Political texts can be just as annoying as spam. To reduce these (and the spam), you can:

• Reply “STOP” or “UNSUBSCRIBE” if the message is from a legitimate company or political campaign. Otherwise, don’t reply. Responding confirms your number works, and you’ll receive even more spam. Btw, political campaigns are required by law to honor these opt-out requests.
• Register your number with the National Do Not Call Registry. I know, this doesn’t do much, but it only takes a sec to do it.
• Block specific numbers. Most smartphones let you block numbers that send spam. The problem? Spammers always find a new number to use, so blocking only one is a waste of time, really.
• Report unwanted texts. Forward the message to 7726 (SPAM) to report it to your carrier. Hopefully, if they get enough, they’ll take action to make it stop — no promises, though.

My secret weapon against spam texts

Spam messages and phone calls have completely stopped coming to my phone after I signed up for Incogni. Really! I don’t get any.

This service finds all the sketchy people-search and data-broker sites where your personal information is listed and submits requests to remove it. Yup, these sites also include your political prefs and contact info.

I signed up Barry on my account, and now his phone is free from spam calls and texts, too. (They now offer a friends-and-family plan. You can also enter up to three phone numbers, email addresses and physical addresses!)

Since setting up my account, Incogni has removed my info from 386 different data broker and people-search sites. I love getting regular progress updates and knowing my information stays off these sites for the long haul. If you go the DIY route, be prepared to fight the same battle repeatedly.

👉 Stop spam texts and calls right now. I negotiated a 60% discount on Incogni just for you. Take back your privacy today. If you don’t like the results, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.