How to block Cell Phone Text Spam

You thought email spam was bad. Wait until you get your first text spam. Short messages asking you to buy stuff at a certain sketchy website. Why would anyone send you that?

Some of you know this, but for the others – your text number also works as a email address. For example if your number is 999-555-1212, and you had verizon, I could text you at 9995551212@vzw.com. So, many spammers have been using email to send massive texts for free. They know you are more likely to read a text than an email that probably gets sent directly to your spam filter.

The most infuriating part about it, is that often you are paying for that text spam. If you don’t have a text plan you are getting charged .15c per text. Even if you do, they are taking one of your precious texts away in your package. And its just annoying.

So, how do you get rid of it? The New York Times investigated and discovered often you can go to your wireless provider’s website and check an option to turn off any text messages from the internet. You will only received texts from other phones, which is great because what spammer is really going to type in messages to thousands of people on a phone?

* AT&T: Log in at mymessages.wireless.att.com. Under Preferences, you’ll see the text-blocking and alias options. Here’s also where you can block messages from specific e-mail addresses or Web sites.

* Verizon Wireless: Log in at vtext.com. Under Text Messaging, click Preferences. Click Text Blocking. You’re offered choices to block text messages from e-mail or from the Web. Here again, you can block specific addresses or Web sites. (Here’s where you set up your aliases, too.)

* Sprint: No auto-blocking is available at all, but you can block specific phone numbers and addresses. To get started, log in at www.sprint.com. On the top navigation bar, click My Online Tools. Under Communication Tools, click Text Messaging. On the Compose a Text Message page, under Text Messaging Options, click Settings & Preferences. In the text box, you can enter a phone number, email address or domain (such as Comcast.net) that you want to block.

* T-Mobile: T-Mobile doesn’t yet offer a “block text messages from the Internet” option. You can block all messages sent by e-mail, though, or permit only messages sent to your phone’s e-mail address or alias, or create filters that block text messages containing certain phrases. It’s all waiting when you log into www.t-mobile.com and click Communication Tools.