New Report: The Top 5 Spam Text Messages in America

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It seems like nearly everyone has a cell phone — and the spam text messages that go along with them. The danger is that these spam texts can lead to being robbed of your hard-earned money and even expose you to identity theft.

A report by RoboKiller.com, a spam and robocall blocking service, shows that Americans received more than 78 billion spam text messages at one point last year. That’s an 18% year-over-year increase from the first half of the previous year.

According to the report, which is the latest published, Americans lost $13 billion to text scams in the first half of 2023. Robokiller predicted that number to significantly increase into 2024.

The report covers robotexts, spam texts as well as scam texts received by Americans from January to June 2023.

In this article, we’ll go over what kinds of spam messages people are getting as well as the steps you can take to stop getting spam text messages.

Can Clicking on a Spam Text Be Dangerous?

Clicking on spam texts can expose your phone to cybersecurity threats, including identity theft. And according to the report, many spam texts can be dangerous such as delivery-related spam texts, which try to get you to divulge your address or other personal information.

Money expert Clark Howard plays it safe by making sure to never click on text links sent from phone numbers he doesn’t recognize.

“When you receive a text and you don’t know the sender or even if you do know the sender and there’s a link in there they want you to click on, I wouldn’t click on the link unless it’s somebody you absolutely know with certainty.”

Here Are the Top Spam Text Categories

Top Spam Text Topics# of Spam Texts in U.S.
Delivery1,129,510,869
Bank Scams363,928,213
Travel179,443,012
COVID-19151,297,143
Apple + Hardware141,134,560

Read the full report: RoboKiller’s 2023 Mid-Year Phone Scam Insights and Analysis.

What You Can Do About Spam Text Messages

Want to significantly reduce the amount of spam text messages you get? Here are some tips.

Receive a strange link in your text message? Don’t tap on it. If you do, it could ask you for your sensitive information or it could expose you to malware that infects your device.

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Malware, short for “malicious software,” could be anything that can cause damage by infecting your device. It can take the form of content, executable code, scripts and more.

The best thing for you to do is delete the link.

Report the Sender

You can report spam text messages to your wireless provider and the Federal Communications Commission by forwarding the texts to 7726 (SPAM).

For a fuller explanation, read up on how to report spam text messages.

Block the Sender

  • For iPhone: Open your call log and tap the “i” (information) button next to the number you want to block. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap on “Block this Caller.”
  • For Android: Depending on the type of Android phone you have, settings may vary. For Samsung models (like my wife’s Galaxy), once you open the phone app, tap More > Settings > Block Numbers. Enter the number you want to block and tap “Add.”

Final Thoughts

Remember, never tap on any suspicious links. And whether the request comes through a text, email or phone call, never give any of your personal information to someone you don’t know.

Want to learn more? Read our guide on how to handle a random text message.

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