In recent years, the volume of spam text messages has skyrocketed. Whether it is a fake delivery notification from “FedEx,” a political campaign asking for donations, or a blatant phishing attempt trying to steal your bank details, receiving these constant alerts on your iPhone is incredibly frustrating.
While you cannot stop scammers from acquiring your phone number, Apple has built several powerful tools directly into iOS to help you manage the flood. By combining the “Filter Unknown Senders” feature with manual blocking, you can reclaim your inbox and ensure you only receive notifications from people you actually know.
How to Filter Texts from Unknown Senders
The single most effective way to reduce text message spam on an iPhone is to enable the “Filter Unknown Senders” feature. Instead of dumping every single message into one massive inbox, this setting separates your messages into two distinct lists: one for people in your contacts, and one for everyone else.
Crucially, iOS will automatically silence notifications for messages that land in the “Unknown Senders” list.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on Messages (it has a green icon with a white speech bubble).
- Scroll down to the Message Filtering section.
- Toggle the switch next to Filter Unknown Senders so that it turns green.
Now, open your Messages app. You will notice the interface has changed slightly. At the top left of the screen, you will see a new Filters button. Tapping this allows you to view “All Messages,” “Known Senders,” or “Unknown Senders.” You will no longer receive a vibration or lock screen alert when a spam text arrives; it will simply sit quietly in the Unknown Senders folder until you choose to review it.
How to Block Specific Spam Numbers
If a specific scammer keeps texting you from the same phone number (or email address, as is common with iMessage spam), you should permanently block them. This prevents them from ever contacting you via text, phone call, or FaceTime.
- Open the Messages app and tap on the spam conversation. (Do not click any links inside the message!)
- At the very top of the screen, tap on the sender’s profile icon (which usually looks like a grey circle with a person inside, or just their phone number).
- A menu will drop down. Tap the Info button on the right side.
- Scroll to the very bottom of the next screen and tap Block this Caller.
- Tap Block Contact to confirm your decision.
You can now safely swipe left on the conversation in your inbox and delete it.
How to Report iMessage Spam Directly to Apple
If the spam message was sent via iMessage (indicated by a blue chat bubble rather than a green one), you can actually report it directly to Apple to help them identify and ban the sender’s Apple ID.
When you receive an iMessage from someone who is not in your contacts, iOS automatically displays a small banner at the bottom of the message reading “The sender is not in your contact list.” Directly below that, you will see a blue link that says Report Junk.
Simply tap Report Junk, and then tap Delete and Report Junk. This action simultaneously deletes the text from your iPhone and forwards the sender’s information and message content to Apple’s security team.
A Warning About Replying to Spam
You might be tempted to reply to a spam text with words like “STOP” or a colourful insult. Never do this.
Scammers use automated software to blast millions of numbers at random. When you reply—even to tell them to go away—you confirm that your phone number is active and monitored by a real human. This instantly makes your number more valuable, and the scammers will likely sell it to other spam networks, resulting in even more junk texts. Always block, report, and delete.
