How to stop spam texts

Spam texts are the fastest-growing spam channel because texting is cheap, click rates are high, and one tap on a bad link can hurt. The counter-playbook is short: report to 7726, report in your messaging app, filter unknown senders, and never — ever — reply to a stranger. Every step below is free and verified against FTC, carrier, Apple, and Google documentation on the date above.

Step 1: Forward it to 7726 — the report that actually blocks campaigns

7726 (it spells SPAM on a keypad) is the wireless industry's shared spam-reporting channel. Copy the offending message and forward it — unedited, no added commentary — to 7726. It's free on every major carrier and doesn't count against your plan; the carrier usually texts back asking for the sender's number. Send it. Your report feeds the filters that detect and block that campaign for everyone on the network, which makes 7726 the single highest-leverage tap in this guide.

Step 2: Report it in the app (Apple and Google run filters too)

iPhone: messages from unknown senders show a Report Junk link — tap it, then Delete and Report Junk; unopened conversations can be swiped left and reported without opening. The report goes to Apple with the sender info. Two quirks worth knowing: reporting does not by itself block the sender (block separately), and the Report Junk option disappears once you've replied to a conversation.

Android (Google Messages): touch and hold the conversation → Block → Report spam → OK. Google receives the sender's number and up to the last 10 messages, may pass the details to your carrier, and the spammer never learns who reported them.

Step 3: Filter unknown senders so the junk never interrupts you

Both platforms can shunt texts from people outside your contacts into a separate, notification-free list: on iPhone it's Settings → Messages → Filter Unknown Senders; Google Messages enables spam protection by default and sorts suspected junk automatically. You still receive everything — deliveries, appointment reminders — but the noise stops arriving as an interruption, and stray legitimate texts are one glance away.

The STOP rule (this is where people get burned)

"Reply STOP to opt out" has two completely different meanings depending on the sender:

• A business you actually deal with (your dentist, a retailer you gave your number to): STOP is a legally enforceable opt-out. Use it freely.
• An unknown sender: STOP — or any reply at all — is a confirmation that a live, attentive human owns this number. Confirmed-live numbers are worth more and get resold harder. Per FTC guidance, don't reply and don't tap links; report and block instead.

Same logic for the "wrong number" texts that open with a friendly hello: engaging at all, even to say "wrong number," marks you as responsive. Those are the opening lines of long-con scams, not misdials.

If a text cost you money — or smells like fraud

Escalate beyond the carrier: file at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (FTC — fraud, losses, scam patterns) and consumercomplaints.fcc.gov (FCC — unwanted calls/texts category). Neither resolves your individual case, but both feed the enforcement actions and blocking mandates that actually shrink the problem.

Why your number gets texted at all

Spam texts are a list business: numbers compiled and sold by data brokers, merged with breach dumps, confirmed by replies, resold. The steps above handle each message; shrinking the number of lists you're on is the durable fix — here's how the pipeline works and how to shut off the tap.