Remember when email became a new way to communicate? It was great – until spammers started using the system to fill our ‘in’ boxes with junk.
And now that texting has become the preferred online communication method, they are ruining that as well.
Spam texts are annoying – and can be dangerous as most are phishing to harvest your personal data, get you to fall for a scam, or shove malware into your phone.
Thankfully, there are some easy and common sense steps you can take to reduce them.
- Don’t open them (and most are pretty obvious as to what they are).
- Ignore messages from anyone you don’t know.
- Add your number to “Do Not Call” and “Do Not Text” lists. They are not as effective as originally promised, but they will filter out some of the junk.
One Tip to Avoid
We’ve seen other articles on this topic recommend using a Google Voice number, which will reduce the amount of texts that will go to your real cell phone number. But using Google, or similar services, can actually increase the amount of information you’re giving out, instead of lowering it. And the more information about you that is out there, the easier it is for spammers and scammers to find you.
Here is How You Fight Back
The objective here, as it is with much of online privacy and security, is to remove your personal information from the internet, and limit your exposure as much as possible.
Our IronWall360 online privacy protection service scans the internet for your home address and phone number, and we make sure it gets removed. That’s an effective first step toward not only protecting yourself and your family, but also decreasing the number of annoying spam texts you’ll receive.
We also provide additional preventative services that are free to our Premium subscribers and offered at a reduced fee for Standard clients when you sign up your court, organization, or department:
NordVPN
This service, available for up to six devices, encrypts and safeguards your passwords, logins, and any other information submitted through WiFi. It also hides your location, and filters out malware and malicious links.
VoIP
A VoIP number is used in place of a cell phone number when banks and other institutions require that information, typically for two-factor authentication requests. A VoIP number accepts and forwards calls and text messages to your phone, while hiding your actual phone number.
Email Aliases
We provide an alias email address that will forward any communication to your actual email address, while keeping that personal email address confidential. You can create and delete up to ten additional email addresses under this original alias account.
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