Block spam texts in New Zealand: filter junk SMS on any phone

A text arrives saying your NZ Post parcel is held up, with a link to reschedule delivery. Or a message claims you missed a voicemail and must install an app to hear it. Spam and scam texts are one of the busiest fraud channels in New Zealand, because a text costs the sender almost nothing and a single tapped link can compromise a phone or steal card details. The good news: modern phones can filter most of this automatically, and reporting a text takes seconds and helps shut the sender down.

Recognise the common spam text types

Before filtering, it helps to know what lands in Kiwi inboxes:

• Fake delivery texts: messages impersonating NZ Post, CourierPost, Aramex, or DHL, claiming a parcel needs a redelivery fee or address confirmation via a link.
• Malware texts: the Flubot-style campaigns that spread by texting everyone in an infected phone's contacts, urging recipients to install a fake app or click a link.
• Prize and lure texts: sudden wins, supermarket vouchers, or government refunds you never applied for.
• Marketing spam: aggressive promotions from businesses you never gave your number to, or never properly consented to hear from.

The golden rule for all of them: never tap a link in an unexpected text. Open the courier's or company's official app, or type their web address yourself, and check there instead.

Filter spam texts on Android

Most Android phones include spam protection in the messaging app:

1. Open Google Messages (the default on most Android phones).
2. Tap your profile icon, then Messages settings → Spam protection.
3. Turn on Enable spam protection. Suspected spam is moved to a spam folder automatically.
4. To block a specific sender, open the conversation, tap the three-dot menu, and choose Block.

Samsung Messages offers similar options under its own settings menu, including blocking numbers and phrases. Check which messaging app is your default and enable its spam features — many people run an unfiltered inbox simply because the setting was never switched on.

Filter spam texts on iPhone

Apple filters unknown senders and, on recent iOS versions, offers stronger junk filtering:

1. Go to Settings → Messages and turn on Filter Unknown Senders. Texts from numbers not in your contacts are sorted into a separate list and do not trigger notifications.
2. In recent iOS versions, check for additional junk-filtering options under Settings → Messages → Unknown & Spam, where you can also enable carrier or third-party SMS filtering apps.
3. To block a sender, open the conversation, tap the number at the top, tap Info, and choose Block this Caller.
4. To report junk received in iMessage, use the Report Junk link that appears under messages from unknown senders.

Review the Unknown Senders list occasionally so genuine messages — appointment reminders, two-factor codes from new services — do not sit unread.

Never reply, tap, or opt out of scam texts

How you react to a scam text matters as much as filtering:

• Do not reply STOP to a scam text. STOP only works with legitimate businesses; replying to scammers confirms your number is active and invites more.
• Do not tap links, even out of curiosity. Some links install malware or harvest details the moment the page loads.
• Do not call back numbers from suspicious texts. Verify through official channels instead.
• Do not forward scam texts to friends to ask if they are real — describe the message in your own words instead, so nobody taps the link by accident.

For legitimate marketing texts from real New Zealand businesses, replying STOP or using the provided opt-out should work, and persistent messages after opting out can be raised with the Department of Internal Affairs.

Report every scam text to 7726

This is the single most useful thing you can do with a scam text. Forward it free of charge to 7726 (SPAM):

1. Long-press the suspicious message and choose Forward (wording varies by phone).
2. Send it to 7726.
3. You will receive a reply explaining how to complete a short report.

The content of the reported text, along with sender and recipient numbers, is shared with the Department of Internal Affairs and New Zealand mobile operators, who use it to investigate scams and block malicious senders. Reporting takes under a minute and directly feeds the blocking systems that protect other customers on Spark, One NZ, and 2degrees. You can also report the scam to Netsafe at netsafe.org.nz to help warn the wider public.

If you tapped a link or installed something

Act quickly — speed limits the damage:

1. If you entered card details on a linked site, call your bank immediately and ask about freezing cards and reversing charges.
2. If you installed an app from a text link, uninstall it, run your phone's security scan, and change important passwords from another device.
3. If you entered login credentials, change those passwords and enable two-factor authentication.
4. Report the text to 7726 and the incident to Netsafe so the campaign is tracked.

Spam texts succeed through volume, not sophistication — the sender needs only a tiny fraction of recipients to tap. With filtering switched on, links left untapped, and every scam text forwarded to 7726, you make that fraction smaller for everyone.