How to Report iMessage Spam as Junk on iPhone & iPad

Jan 23, 2016 - 12 Comments

Messages Ever received a junk iMessage to an iPhone or iPad from someone you don’t know, or that is clearly spam? With new versions of the Messages app, there is a simple way to report the spammy iMessage sender as such to Apple, which helps them to detect and reduce junk bulk iMessages.


Reporting iMessage spam as junk and deleting the message is done in one single workflow:

How to Use Reporting & Trashing of iMessage Spam on iPhone, iPad

  1. When a junk spam iMessage arrives, open it as usual
  2. At the bottom of the iMessage look for the message “The sender is not in your contacts list. Report Junk” – tap on the Report Junk button, then confirm that you want to delete the message and report it as junk

Once confirmed, Messages app will back out of the junk message and return to the inbox.

Report iMessage junk as spam and delete

With the iMessage reported as spam and trashed, the message is removed from the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and there shouldn’t be any need to have further interaction with the message.

Here is an example of a common type of iMessage spam coming from iCloud spammers:

iMessage spam

If you see these type of junk messages, be sure to report them to Apple as described above.

If you get a ton of strange junk messages, you might find this to be a helpful option to pair with unknown message sender filtering on iPhone and iPad, which automatically sorts our message senders who are not in Contacts address book into a separate message inbox.

It’s worth mentioning that once in a blue moon legitimate contacts can wind up with malware, adware, or junkware that attempts to solicit the iOS contacts list with messages to download apps or sign up for some junk service. That won’t necessarily arrive with a similar “report junk” option since it’s from a known contact, but if the sender is annoying anyway you can always choose to block the contact in iOS thereby preventing messages, FaceTime, and calls from that person, or just delete the message as they arrive.

This option for reporting senders as junk is also available on the Mac in the same way, and you can block iMessages in Mac OS X which also carries over to iOS devices.

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Related articles:

Posted by: Paul Horowitz in iPad, iPhone, Tips & Tricks

12 Comments

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  1. M says:

    Did u ever get the answer? This is a stupid place to put the report junk! I reported all my messages as junk too. I need to undo it! They should at least make u confirm report junk!

  2. Dominik Hoffmann says:

    I am currently reaching out to people who have posted their resumes in CareerBuilder, because we are hiring. It seems that if enough of them bother to report my iMessages to them as junk, my ability to send iMessages to others is inhibited.

    What a Charlie Foxtrot!

  3. Beth Stevens says:

    Thank you for information on recognizing junk messages and emails. How to fix issues if my emails or messages send multiple times, but not intentionally? I have this problem regardless how many different emails or accounts I set up over the years. Thank you , Beth A Stevens Louisiana

  4. Kevin says:

    What happens if I’m just trying to delete msgs from my iMessage and accidentally push delete and report this as junk when I didn’t want to do that?? I just wanted to clean up my messages but none of these people are junk and I accidentally hit that button. Will I still get messages from those people? Or did I F$@& something up?? If so, is there a way to reverse this??

  5. Ayka says:

    Hi, I got a message from a person I do not wish to contact. Her number is not saved and when I got her message I just clicked it as a “junk”.
    Does it mean I will never be bothered by messages anymore? That all her messages are in nervana or do I have a junk folder now? And will she be also informed she is junk now or won’t she be aware of it and she will keep on messaging me? Thanks.

  6. While this article correctly points out the iPhone’s own function for reporting spam it doesn’t help solve the problem. Carriers will accept reports of spam and do pursue the senders. Copy any spam message that you receive and send it to 7726 (SPAM), a universally-recognized short code for reporting violations. You will get a message back asking you to respond with the sender’s info (either a phone number or, in many cases, an email address). Carriers will make note of this and if they receive repeated complaints will block the sender.

    I have written a more detailed explanation of how this works on Quora here:
    https://www.quora.com/What-should-I-do-when-I-receive-a-spam-message

  7. Marc says:

    Unfortunately this doesn’t work at all for me as the text come in as iMessage and are grouped within contact and SMS and never in unknown. I get 4 to 6 spam a day and the number showing up is not even in service when I try to call it. I have been emailing photos to imessage.spam@apple.com. Any other solutions would help.

  8. Linuxpro says:

    I have been using WhatsApp since it was new. I have recieved perhaps a dozen spam. Also I can message any WhatsApp user. I am not limited to only those who forgot to shut off, or have no idea that they use iMessage.

    My brother and wife use Android. I use Apple for now.

  9. Leggoman says:

    Nice to see that they are trying to stop junk mail.
    How can you call Whatsapp grown up app more holes in it than a colander, and a door way to more junk and spam than the postman brings.

  10. Linuxpro says:

    Wow, maybe one day iMessage will grow up, and become a functional service like WhatsApp.

  11. Wharf Xanadu says:

    I get junk phone calls from “unknown” but rarely junk texts and junk iMessages

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