For the last few weeks, I started to get such messages every single day in the morning. Every single day. I don’t know what changed cause I didn’t register for any online service. I assume phone number got leaked in one of the data breaches? Most of them are all these recruiting messages.
Right now, I consistently report them as spam and delete them. However, I am the type of person who likes their apps to have no badges or unread count. I always read all the messages or at least mark them as read. How do I handle this? There’s nothing like an email filter that I can apply here.
I already have a T-Mobile spam filter app, but it only blocks phone calls I guess.
When you say “report them as spam” do you mean that you select “Delete and Report Junk” in the messages app?
You can block notifications for messages from unknown senders, which is what I do. If there’s a badge, I can be fairly confident that it’s from someone or some organization that I know. I make it a point to check my messages a few times a day to make sure that there isn’t a message from an unknown sender that I do actually need to attend to.
I get a ton of fundraising message spam. I batch delete them at the end of the day using the “Delete and Report Junk” option.
To turn off notifications for messages from unknown senders, go to Settings→Apps→Messages→Notifications→Customize Notifications and turn off "Allow Notifications - Unknown Senders.
To batch delete messages in the Messages app, hit the circle with three dots in the upper right hand corner next to the compose message icon and choose Select Messages.
If you hit the Filters arrow in the upper left corner, you’ll be taken to a screen where you can select views that show you All Messages, Known Senders, Unknown Senders, and Unread Messages, which makes it easy to go in and batch delete the messages from unknown senders.
It’s clunky, but better than nothing.
PS: in case it’s not clear, all of the above are available now in iOS 18.
I block all calls from unknown senders and senders without caller ID. This means I need to undo those setting when I am expecting a call from someone not in my contact list.
My favorite unknown sender, however, is the secretary of a person who had my current phone number 25 years ago. For 25 years she (and the guy’s mother) have left messages for him on my phone. I’ve spoken to both of them about it, and we have a good laugh every few months, then they continue to leave the messages for “Dominick”.
I suggest keeping a few of them and comparing the sender’s number (you can delete them once you have finished the comparison). If you are getting the same message from multiple different senders, then there is little you can do. As each message is from a “different” sender, reporting one sender won’t stop a message from another number from getting through. Presumably, your number ended up on someone’s list and they are sending you spam messages from various spoofed numbers that they cycle through specifically to avoid being blocked. Playing wack-a-mole with their endless supply of spoofed numbers is an exercise in futility. This is why many of us either block or turn off notifications for everyone not in our contacts.
I usually just delete the message then restart my iPhone and iPad. I know the numbers are spoofed so reporting them does no good. And restarting my phone, etc might help protect me from a zero click exploit like the one Apple recently patched in iOS 18.3.1
