Report all unsolicited text messaging abuses to your wireless carrier

The two ways that text-message (SMS) spam gets to your phone:

1) Regulated Short Codes
If you receive an unwanted text-message (SMS) from a 5 or 6 digit short code (e.g. 92129), reply to that message with 'STOP' or 'STOP ALL'. Carrier regulation requires all service providers to immediately remove your number from the list and send you a confirmation text-message. If you do not receive a confirmation message or you continue to receive spam messages, contact your wireless carrier and file a complaint. Follow-up with a complaint to your local Better Business Bureau.

2) Unregulated SMTP Gateways
Most text-message (SMS) spam is sent through the wireless carriers' unregulated SMTP gateways. These gateways treat your phone number as an email address (example: 6175551212@attwireless.com). Messages sent to this email address are forwarded to the subscriber's phone as a text-message by the carrier.

Here are some tips to block SMTP text-messages:

AT&T: Log in at mymessages.wireless.att.com. Under Preferences, you’ll see the text-blocking and alias options. Here’s also where you can block messages from specific e-mail addresses or Web sites.

Verizon Wireless: Log in at vtext.com. Under Text Messaging, click Preferences. Click Text Blocking. You’re offered choices to block text messages from e-mail or from the Web. Here again, you can block specific addresses or Web sites. (Here’s where you set up your aliases, too.)

Sprint: No auto-blocking is available at all, but you can block specific phone numbers and addresses. To get started, log in at www.sprint.com. On the top navigation bar, click My Online Tools. Under Communication Tools, click Text Messaging. On the Compose a Text Message page, under Text Messaging Options, click Settings & Preferences. In the text box, you can enter a phone number, email address or domain (such as Comcast.net) that you want to block.

T-Mobile: T-Mobile doesn’t yet offer a “block text messages from the Internet” option. You can block all messages sent by e-mail, though, or permit only messages sent to your phone’s e-mail address or alias, or create filters that block text messages containing certain phrases. It’s all waiting when you log into www.t-mobile.com and click Communication Tools.