Whether you’re buying a new iPhone 17 or upgrading your existing device to iOS 26, there’s one update that could be more critical than the rest. When you unbox your new phone or install the iOS update, you need to check one setting right away.
iPhone users are under siege from a plague of scam text messages that is now out of control. Designed in China and fueled by kits sold or rented to threat actors around the world, these attacks are disguised as unpaid toll, undelivered package or motoring offense lures. But beneath the surface they steal your money and your passwords.
There has been criticism of networks for not doing enough to kill these texts before they reach your device. But criminal gangs stay ahead of this by revolving numbers and using farms of consumer devices to push out their messages. And so it falls to defenses on the phone to ensure citizens in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere do not fall victim.
Apple’s answer is the new scam protection coming to Messages with iOS 26. You can already filter messages from “unknown senders.” That’s helpful and there is some link protection, which is why you need to reply to a scam message to click on one. But iOS 26 goes further, differentiating between unknown senders and spam, including scams.
Per 9to5Mac, “Apple is applying two specific restrictions to messages in the ‘Spam’ folder, which will make it harder to fall for potentially malicious texts.” One is the current link block, but the other is actually more significant.
“Users can’t reply to messages in the Spam folder,” 9to5Mac explains, “which makes it harder to engage with a potential scammer. And while it’s easy to move a message from ‘Spam’ back to the main Messages view, that small bit of friction can go a long way in helping users avoid accidentally falling for a phishing attempt.”
Text scams either need you to click a link or — increasingly — just reply. As I’ve warned before, that’s behind the short, sharp curiosity texts designed to spark up a discussion and lead you blindly into a trap. “Hello.” Or “Sorry I’m running late.” Or “What time is the restaurant booked for tonight?” Or multiple similar themes.
Apple’s move is welcome and reflects the warnings from the FBI, FTC and others — do not reply or otherwise engage with texts from unknown senders until you can verify who it is. Replying with “Who is this?” does not count as independent verification.
The scale of current text attacks is beyond the imagination of most of us — literally billions upon billions of messages sent. And plenty get through. Google and Apple are now acting to keep you safer. Make sure you enable this setting. And meantime, even ahead of iOS 26, heed Apple’s warning and do not reply to unknown senders.
