Shield Your Inbox: How to Effortlessly Block Spam Texts on Your iPhone

[IT동아 김예지 기자] Spam and smishing messages are rampant. Spam messages for advertising purposes are just annoying, but smishing messages carry the risk of stealing personal information or causing financial harm.

This is why we not only need to be careful about spam text messages, but it is important to prevent them in advance. While safe websites and apps are being released that distinguish between these messages, you can also make some simple settings on your smartphone itself to prevent malicious messages. Introducing how to identify and block spam messages on Apple iPhone (iOS version 17.6.1).

Filtering unknown senders is possible in the iPhone’s message settings / Source = IT Donga

To prevent spam and smishing messages which are becoming more sophisticated every day, the priority is to be wary of “unknown senders”. The iPhone’s Messages app has a feature to filter out unknown senders. If you go to the Messages settings in the iPhone’s general settings and scroll down, you’ll see “Filter unknown senders.”

When you activate the filter, messages are divided into folders / Source = IT Donga

When you activate the feature and enter the messaging app, a ‘filter’ will appear at the top left. When you click the filter, you’ll see a list of messages divided into All Messages, Known Senders, Unknown Senders, and Unread Messages. Senders whose contact information you have saved, or senders you have replied to even if you have not saved their contact information, are all classified in the “Known Senders” folder. Others are classified as “unknown senders”.

However, in some cases, the filtering function may be rather inconvenient. This is because messages such as delivery notifications and event information may be classified as unknown senders, and you may miss important content if you don’t have a record of your previous save or reply. In this case, if you receive a suspicious spam or smishing message, we recommend blocking a specific contact.

If you block a sender, you will not receive messages from that sender / Source = IT Donga

To block a contact, tap the suspicious message in the messaging app or search for the name, phone number, or content of the message. Click the contact at the top center, then click “Block Caller” at the bottom under “Information.” When you block, you will no longer be able to receive calls, texts, or FaceTime calls from that caller.

You can collect blocked contacts in message settings / Source = IT Donga

You can view the list of blocked senders as “Blocked Contacts” in the message settings of your iPhone’s general settings. You can also directly add the contacts you want to block by clicking “Add New” below.

You can add new people and unblock them from your blocked contacts list / Source = IT Donga

If you want to unblock a contact, swipe from right to left on the list and press “Unblock” that appears. Alternatively, click the “-” icon that appears when you click “Edit” at the top right and click Unblock. You can also go to each contact in the messaging app and directly press “Unblock Sender”.

Messages sent via iMessage from unknown senders can be reported / Source = IT Donga

Instead of regular text messages, messages sent and received using the iPhone’s messaging app iMessage have a feature to report spam or unwanted messages. You can see the phrase “Report Junk” at the bottom of messages sent via iMessage from unknown senders. If you click on that phrase, it will say “Delete and Report Junk.” When you report, the sender’s information and messages are sent to Apple and deleted from your device. However, if you report and accidentally delete a message, you can recover it from “Recently Deleted Items”.

Meanwhile, unlike the previous two settings, there are also features worth considering if you have suffered smishing damage. “Security Control” and “Lockdown Mode” are powerful security features provided by Apple. In particular, block mode is an extreme policy for cases where it is determined that the user has been the target of a powerful cyber attack. According to Apple, most regular users don’t need to use Lock Mode. Therefore it is sufficient to just know that the function exists.

Written by /IT Donga Kim Ye-ji (yj@itdonga.com)