How Can I Stop Spam SMS?

Ayden T on 22/01/2022 - 15:04
Last edited 22/01/2022 - 22:52 by 1 other user

I joined a promotion listed in OzBargain a while a go for a 365 days Pre-Paid SIM for $20 a year for my 11 year-old son. I and my wife are the only two numbers in the world who actually who have his number, not even any of my son's friend (my son is autistic and and have no friend outside, he just know how to call us in case he got lost, he doesn't even know his own number!) but I found that he is constantly receiving hacker / telecom fraud SMS with link saying that "you have a parcel" or "is this your video blah blah blah".

I am quite sure that someone, may be some of the employee of that MVNO provider leaked that mobile to the criminals. Not only that, my number also started receiving such SMS, but not my wife's number, so I am 100% sure that they take my number from the 4mays1m database when I activate the SIM card.

What should I do about this?

Thanks.

Mobile

Comments

  • mskeggs on 22/01/2022 - 15:09
    +32

    You have an active imagination.
    The spam calls/texts just use random numbers. Don’t get spooked, and no need to assume your suppliers are trying to get you.

    • Quantumcat on 22/01/2022 - 17:36
      -1

      I don't know about that. I was getting a lot of spam on my old number (still am). I got a new number November 2020 and have not received 1 single spam call or text on it. I keep it secret-ish, only my family, friends and employer have it. The only business I've given it to was my vet as I needed to be able to be contacted by them. Every other business or website has my old number. I ignore calls and texts on the old phone and just check it every few days to see if there is anything important there (very rarely).

      If spammers were using just random numbers then they would have got my new number occasionally in the last 1.5 years.

      I believe either the OP is right, or the son input the number somewhere on the internet and it has been sold in a list of numbers to spammers

      • avoidfullprice on 22/01/2022 - 18:15

        Bit of column a and b I reckon. Also not all mobile numbers are same age. For example I get 040xx assigned to my new Telstra data-only Sim and get spam SMS and intl calls. I get 049x prepaid voice number and got no spam for the 12 months being active.

      • eug on 22/01/2022 - 21:27
        +1

        I too have a Telstra mobile broadband SIM which is incapable or making or receiving calls or texts, so nobody has ever had that number. It has received several parcel spam texts.

        • Quantumcat on 22/01/2022 - 22:57

          Probably it was allocated to somebody before you

          • eug on 22/01/2022 - 23:07

            @Quantumcat: I had that number since mid 2020 and only started receiving texts on it mid/late last year.

            • Quantumcat on 22/01/2022 - 23:12

              @eug: Interesting. Maybe someone input your number by mistake?

              • eug on 23/01/2022 - 12:43

                @Quantumcat: That's possible, but in my case think it's more likely the spammers just sent out texts to random numbers.

                In 2021 there were about 32.5 million registered numbers in Australia so it's a guranteed hit rate of about 33% if spammers just send texts to every possible number. A couple of successful scams could probably pay for all those texts.

      • snooksy on 23/01/2022 - 10:33
        -1

        Add to do not call register. Block the offending sender from sending you further SMS messages.

        • HeadTheWall on 23/01/2022 - 11:14
          +1

          This is useless, these numbers are all called in bulk and on rotation by bots overseas where they can ignore the do not call register. When the BOT detects an answered call it gets transferred to a human

        • Hithere on 23/01/2022 - 11:39
          +1

          The DNC register has exemptions for charities, political messages, non profit making companies, and any company you have a 'relationship' with.

          It also can't cover companies based outside Australia such as spammers who cannot be forced to obey Australian laws.

          In other words it's just about a toothless tiger.

    • AustriaBargain on 22/01/2022 - 23:10

      Also from Android owners side loading any old virus filled crap onto their phones.

    • HeWhoKnows on 23/01/2022 - 17:07

      Exactly
      Such spam never include names because they don't know who the owner of the number is

      I'm presently getting lots of SMS from random numbers for waiting deliveries

      Just ignore them

  • djkelly69 on 22/01/2022 - 15:09
    +5

    You can relax, the spammers just spam random numbers. It is not because someone has leaked it to them.

  • holdenmg on 22/01/2022 - 15:15
    +1

    Hi,

    If you are only phoning your Son, maybe you can trash the Messages app.

    Probl'm solv'd.

    • dmbminaret on 23/01/2022 - 12:36

      Usually a system app.

  • AJ73 on 22/01/2022 - 15:18
    -1

    Agree with those above, I have a couple of data only sims I use in tablets and the tablets get calls on nearly a daily basis

    The numbers have never been given out or used to sign up for anything, etc and usually same numbers appear on both devices at some point so definitely a program just seeking out active numbers to then further spam or try to scam

    All you can do is keep blacklisting or blocking numbers as they appear but you are not going to prevent the issue

  • Muzeeb on 22/01/2022 - 15:28
    +7

    L0l.

    T1n f01l h4t 1nc0m1ng.

  • Hithere on 22/01/2022 - 15:46
    +3

    It's the same as spam, they are generated by bots and it's the 'luck' of the draw.

    You might go for months and then suddenly your number comes up.

    Best you can do is put on a tin foil hat, delete them as they arrive, and wait until they stop.

  • pharkurnell on 22/01/2022 - 16:30

    Foil hat or not, seems sus him, his kid all of a sudden are gettin spammed from same joint.

    There was a company spamming me I'd block it and few days later I'd get a call from same number +1 - this went on for at least 100 numbers… they must have just put that range in the Homer Simpson auto dialler machine - and away it went day after day

    and every weekend lately like this instant while writing this I got a spam call from 03 7067 5104 which is about the 10-20th random number from 03 7067 xxxx I've had…

    https://www.reverseaustralia.com/lookup/0370675104/

    • holdenmg on 22/01/2022 - 16:36
      +1

      https://www.reverseaustralia.com/lookup/0370675104/
      probably calling from India

      • pharkurnell on 22/01/2022 - 16:39

        yep.. when you read on numberlookup or reverse, the poor souls that actually answer, or for some reason try calling back usually report that.
        I find a umpires whistle works on them - most times if I make the mistake of answering the call :D

        • HeadTheWall on 23/01/2022 - 11:16
          +1

          They can also spoof the numbers that they are calling from so blocking the number is pretty much a useless effort as well

  • MrThing on 22/01/2022 - 16:41
    +1

    Dont worry OP, it works just like the simpsons predicted

    https://youtu.be/1pINS8h1fsc?t=93

    dont feel special

    • Coops1 on 23/01/2022 - 08:24

      All the conspiracy theories, and it’s as simple as this. While Homer needed thousands of bites, these guys only need a couple to make it worthwhile.

  • bongom on 22/01/2022 - 16:45

    I'm currently trialing a few different apps to stop SMS spam. Most apps seem to cover blocking calls rather than sms.
    Calls Blacklist app allows you to specify keywords to blacklist but you have to set the app as the default for calls/messages.
    It works well for blocking overseas calls as you can easily block by country code, however spammers are now using local numbers so it is becoming harder to filter.

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vladlee.ea…

  • Hithere on 22/01/2022 - 16:54

    I use TrueCaller and it blocks calls as well as SMS. You can also block similar phone number sequences.

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.truecaller…

    I have set it as the default for calls and messages without having any concerns about doing so.

  • kmwa on 22/01/2022 - 17:31
    +1

    Assuming that you've got an iPhone…
    You need to block unknown voice calls https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT207099
    and also unknown SMSs https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-almost-secret-hidden-iphon…
    Bear in mind that the iPhone will then only accept calls and SMS from numbers in Contacts, so go through this and delete every other number except yours and your wife's.

    • AustriaBargain on 22/01/2022 - 23:12

      You could just turn off alerts for unknown numbers, so you can still check the voice messages and messages later. Spam calls never leave a voice message, only real people do, so that's easy.

  • USER DC on 22/01/2022 - 21:12

    Dont put your number on random websites,

    Get a new number chuck old sim out away. Get fresh sim (only give sim no. to trusted contacts)

    I use android, and it somehow does have spam blocking feature (although it aint that accurate I still receive calls randomly rarely but it warns me that it could be a spam call)

    • AustriaBargain on 22/01/2022 - 23:13
      +1

      I've had my number for over 20 years, it's too late to change it now.

  • Nutrino on 23/01/2022 - 00:01

    Welcome to unlimited sms….

  • JIMB0 on 23/01/2022 - 09:05
    +2

    I've gotten a heap of these texts over the last 6 weeks. They've been increasing in frequency to the point where I get several daily now

  • CodeXD on 23/01/2022 - 09:09
    +3

    My numbers been clean for 15 years or so and I started receiving these spam SMS on 9th Jan. Since then. I get one everyday. I assumed it's from one of the data leaks like ShopBack

    • eug on 23/01/2022 - 09:41
      +1

      Do the texts have your name in them, or are they just generic texts? If the spammers bought your number from a data leak, I imagine they would want to make the most of their money and address it to you directly. Otherwise they could just use a random/sequential number generator. Your number is 100% guaranteed to be between 0400000000-0499999999.

      • CodeXD on 23/01/2022 - 09:49

        No name, all generic text.

      • LFO on 23/01/2022 - 14:09

        Your number is 100% guaranteed to be between 0400000000-0499999999.

        Yeap. One of those.

        ;-)

      • cfuse on 24/01/2022 - 00:56

        If the spammers bought your number from a data leak, I imagine they would want to make the most of their money and address it to you directly.

        No, you keep your CRM data on the backend and you make the initial approach as dumb as possible. Throw in an obviously sus URL and some spelling and grammar errors too.

        Spam and scams should be obvious to everyone but a rube. It's prospect filtering.

        • eug on 24/01/2022 - 01:19

          No, you keep your CRM data on the backend and you make the initial approach as dumb as possible.

          That's one way to do it. Email spammers go the other way though, they use your name to make it look more legit. That said, genuine delivery notification texts don't usually have a name.

  • Ramrunner on 23/01/2022 - 12:19
    +1

    I'm not sure what phone you have but my Pixel 6 Pro bins 90% of the spam before I even see it. Probably more. It's pretty accurate. The only false positive I had was Specsavers messages about an eye test being due. I just check the blocked messages occasionally.

  • eug on 23/01/2022 - 13:05
    +5

    The official Google SMS app Messages has a built-in spam filter.

  • LFO on 23/01/2022 - 14:07

    What should I do about this?

    Learn to live with it and teach others the same as we do with junk mail, unwanted advertising, unhealthy foods, bias news … and everything else really.

    Ignore it and it will go away attitude.

    • cfuse on 24/01/2022 - 00:53

      When a scam has an opportunity cost of nil then its not going away. Ever.

      If we want SMS spam to die then the logical solution is to hunt these people down and burn them at the stake. We cannot make SMS spam more expensive or difficult, but we can certainly increase the cost of the malicious act.

      • jv on 24/01/2022 - 01:22
        -1

        then its not going away.

        Mine went away… I haven't had any for months now.

  • Ayden T on 24/01/2022 - 12:02

    My question is that I never received any such sms (with link that can get your phone hacked if clicked on) before I activate the amaysim. So I really doubt that it is them leaking out the phone rather than some random spam suddenly start stacking on me.
    Also, it's difficult to teach my son about hacking sms and not to click on them, good that someone posted how to move those to another mail box.

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