Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - If you've received a spam text message in the past few days telling you your bank account information has been compromised, you're not alone.
These messages are bogus, and should just be deleted. You will never be asked to update personal information via a text message. But how can you get them to stop?
Most of the time, the scammers are just blasting thousands of random numbers with their junk messages hoping to get a few takers.
Major providers such as Verizon, AT&T and Sprint have filters that block most spam, but some of the bogus messages do get by.
“Give us a call, let us know when you get a message, we'll credit your account for that message and then we'll go and dig down to find out who sent it and we'll use every tool in our legal arsenal to get them to stop,” said Verizon spokesman John O’Malley.
For most of us, that's too much of a hassle to save a dime here and there. Besides, most of the time, the phone companies catch on to these scams quickly and shut down the lines the scammers ask you to call them on.
But if it turns into a bigger problem, you can block out all text messages sent from an email address; that's where most spam originates.
If you don't already have your cell phone number on the Do Not Call registry, sign up today. Once you're on that list, junk text messages become illegal, not just annoying.
As mad as they make us, responding to a spammer only lets them know we're receiving their messages and then they'll continue to target us. The best thing to do is hit delete.
Verizon and AT&T tell us the spam filters they have in place stop 100 million to 200 million text messages a month to their users.
