Tired of Scam Text Messages? The FCC Cracks Down

New scam text message rules from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) require carriers to block texts from bad numbers and protect consumers.

Scam text messages were a big part of the $8.8 billion consumers lost to fraud in 2022 — an alarming 30% jump from 2021’s total of $6.1 billion. Anyone who’s ever gotten an “urgent” message from an unknown number knows the growing scourge presented by text fraud. Now the Federal Communications Commission(opens in new tab) (FCC) is taking important steps to address the nationwide problem.

Scam text messages: A growing threat

According to the FCC, consumer complaints about text message scams have multiplied by 500% in only a few years. And robotext complaints rose from around 3,300 in 2015 to 18,900 per year in 2022.

Robotexts pose a unique threat to consumers. You can’t just ignore scam text messages as you can with robocalls. Scam texts are almost always read right away when you receive them. Robotexts can spread links to malware sites or to phishing sites, which then can allow criminals to access sensitive data on your phone...