Google adds warning in Messages for spam texts
The Android feature is now rolling out in the US.
Tired of all those spam texts? Google just launched a new anti-spam feature in Messages.
More Android users will now get warnings about spam in the Messages app and be able to block pernicious accounts, Google said Thursday. The spam protection feature issues an in-app warning, including a red spam icon that'll be familiar to Gmail users, when a suspicious text message arrives. You're then presented with the option to report the text as spam.
"With Spam protection for Messages, we warn you of suspected spam and unsafe websites we've detected. If you see a suspected spam warning in Messages you can help us improve our spam models by letting us know if it's spam or not," Google said in a release.
The feature has been available in a number of countries through 2019 but will now be more broadly available to US users.
Along with reporting spam texts, Google said, you'll also be able to block the conversation entirely. Google released the anti-spam feature with another new security function, Verified SMS, which verifies on a per-text basis whether a company texting you is what it purports to be.
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