Americans lost $470 million to scams that started with a text message in 2024, according to new Federal Trade Commission data published in an April 2025 FTC release. The figure reflects a sharp acceleration in fraudulent messaging, with fake delivery alerts, phony job offers, and bogus bank warnings topping the list of schemes. As losses climb, a built-in phone feature that most users have never activated offers one of the strongest available defenses against unwanted and dangerous messages.
Text Scam Losses Hit $470 Million in 2024
The FTC’s latest report documents $470 million in consumer losses tied to scams that originated through text messages last year. That number captures only what victims actually reported to federal authorities. The true cost is almost certainly higher, since many people never file complaints after being tricked into handing over money or personal information. The agency warns that text messages have become a preferred channel for fraudsters because they are cheap to send in bulk and can be personalized just enough to trick recipients into tapping a link.
The agency identified several dominant scam types driving those losses. Fake package delivery notifications, which mimic alerts from carriers like UPS or USPS, ranked among the most commonly reported. Bogus job and task scams, where targets are recruited for simple online work that eventually requires an upfront payment, also surged. Bank “fraud alert” texts that impersonate financial institutions and unpaid toll notices rounded out the top categories. Each of these schemes relies on urgency and familiarity to push recipients into clicking a link or sharing sensitive data before they stop to think, and the resulting reports give regulators a clearer picture of how criminals adapt their scripts over time.
Why the Most Common Scams Keep Working
The effectiveness of these text scams comes down to design. A message claiming a package cannot be delivered or that a bank account has been compromised triggers an immediate emotional response. Scammers count on that split-second reaction, knowing that many people will respond to a perceived crisis before verifying the source. The FTC’s Consumer Sentinel data collects complaint information from millions of consumer reports, helping regulators spot patterns in how scammers reach consumers and which schemes are spreading. Text messages carry an inherent sense of legitimacy because people associate them with personal contacts and trusted services, and phones are often checked reflexively throughout the day.
Toll scams offer a clear example of how this psychology works. A text arrives claiming an unpaid toll of a few dollars, with a link to “resolve” the balance. The amount is small enough to seem plausible and not worth questioning, and the message often includes a deadline to heighten the pressure. But the link leads to a spoofed payment page designed to harvest credit card numbers and other details. The low dollar figure is the bait. By the time a victim realizes what happened, the stolen card details have already been used or sold. Job scams follow a similar arc: an unsolicited offer for easy remote work builds trust through small legitimate-seeming payments before the target is asked to deposit funds, purchase equipment, or share banking credentials, turning a casual interaction into a serious financial loss.
The Phone Setting Most People Never Turn On
Both iPhone and Android devices ship with built-in tools to filter messages from unknown senders, but adoption remains low. On iPhones, the “Filter Unknown Senders” toggle in Settings sorts messages from people not in a user’s contacts into a separate list, stripping them of link previews and notifications. This single setting can reduce the number of scam texts that reach a user’s primary inbox, especially when combined with carrier-level spam filtering. Android offers a similar function through Google Messages, which flags suspected spam and moves it to a dedicated folder where it can be reviewed later. Neither feature requires a third-party app or subscription, and both are updated behind the scenes as companies refine their detection algorithms.
The gap between availability and adoption is wide. Most users either do not know the setting exists or worry about missing legitimate messages from new contacts, such as a doctor’s office, school, or delivery driver. That concern is valid but manageable. Filtered messages are not deleted; they sit in a separate tab, available for review at any time, and users can add trusted numbers to their contacts to ensure future messages land in the main inbox. The tradeoff is minor inconvenience versus exposure to schemes that cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. For anyone who has received a suspicious toll notice or a fake bank alert, activating this filter is the single fastest step available to reduce risk, and it is one that can be turned off just as easily if it proves too restrictive.
Apple’s iOS 26 Call Screen Adds Another Layer
Apple has described a call screening feature for iOS 26 that extends the defensive logic behind text filtering to voice calls. As described by the Associated Press, the system prompts unknown callers to state their reason for calling before the phone ever rings through. The phone then displays a real-time transcription of the caller’s response, giving the user a chance to read the explanation before deciding how to respond. From there, the user can answer the call, reject it, or send a text reply without ever picking up, reducing the pressure to respond in the moment and limiting the chance of being drawn into a high-pressure pitch.
The feature addresses a real problem, but it has limits. Some legitimate callers, unfamiliar with automated screening prompts, may simply hang up rather than explain themselves to a machine, and some automated systems cannot navigate the prompt at all. That risk means the tool works best as a filter for high-volume spam and robocalls rather than as a blanket replacement for answering the phone. Still, the approach signals a broader shift by device manufacturers toward giving users more control over who can reach them and how. Combined with text filtering, it creates a two-layer system that forces scammers to clear multiple hurdles before making contact, and it encourages people to treat unexpected communications with more skepticism by default.
What to Do After a Scam Text Arrives
Prevention tools reduce exposure, but they cannot eliminate it entirely. When a suspicious message does get through, the FTC recommends reporting it through the agency’s online portal at reportfraud.ftc.gov, which feeds directly into the Consumer Sentinel Network used by law enforcement agencies nationwide. Reports help investigators identify emerging scam patterns and track the phone numbers, URLs, and payment methods that fraudsters cycle through. Even if an individual report does not lead to immediate action, the data strengthens enforcement efforts over time and can support broader crackdowns on organized fraud rings.
For anyone who has already shared personal information with a scammer, the federal government maintains a recovery resource at identitytheft.gov, which walks victims through steps like placing fraud alerts on credit reports, disputing unauthorized charges, and filing identity theft affidavits. The FTC also points consumers to the Do Not Call Registry, which can reduce some categories of unwanted outreach from legitimate telemarketers, even though it does not stop criminals who ignore the law. Taken together with built-in phone settings, these tools form a layered defense: filter unknown texts, screen unexpected calls, and report anything suspicious so regulators can see the full scope of the problem. As text-based scams continue to evolve, that combination of personal vigilance and systematic reporting will be critical to keeping losses from climbing even higher.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
