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On an Android phone, open Google Messages and go to Profile picture or initials > Messages settings > Protection & Safety > Spam protection to change filtering. To report a scam, touch and hold its conversation, choose Block, then Report spam, and confirm. Google normally blocks the sender and moves the thread to Spam & blocked; reporting also sends limited information for abuse analysis.
What the two controls do
Google Messages has separate decisions for filtering and reporting. Spam protection is an automatic defense: on supported devices it is enabled by default, looks for known spam patterns, can hide suspected messages in the spam folder, prevent delivery, and suspend senders that violate Google’s terms. Block and report spam is a manual action on a particular conversation. It blocks that sender on your phone and submits a report to Google; Google may also pass the number and newest message to your mobile carrier.
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Availability is conditional. Google says the Spam protection menu appears only when the feature is available on your device. Scam Detection, a newer part of Spam protection, is enabled by default where offered and currently applies to conversations with people who are not in your contacts. Its initial English-language availability is described for the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, with broader rollout planned. A missing menu or warning therefore does not necessarily indicate a fault.
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Change Spam protection in Google Messages
- Open the Google Messages app.
- Tap your profile picture or initials in the upper-right area.
- Tap Messages settings.
- Open Protection & Safety.
- Tap Spam protection.
- Turn Enable spam protection on or off.
If Spam protection is not listed, Google’s instructions indicate that the control is not available on that device. The label can also differ when a phone manufacturer or regional release has not received the same feature set. Keep Google Messages updated through your normal app-update channel, then check the path again; do not assume that installing an unrelated security app will create this menu.
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Leaving the switch on allows automatic filtering and any Scam Detection capability available for your account, device, and region. Turning it off removes that automatic layer; it does not undo a sender you have already blocked, and it does not report or unblock existing conversations.
Report a scam text and block its sender
Use the conversation list
- Open Google Messages and find the suspicious conversation.
- Touch and hold the conversation until the action bar appears.
- Tap Block.
- Choose Report spam.
- Tap OK to confirm.
The conversation is reported, the number is blocked, and the thread moves to Spam & blocked. The spammer cannot view your report or learn that you submitted it.
Use an open conversation
When the thread is already open, tap More options > Details > Block & report spam > OK. This reaches the same reporting flow without returning to the conversation list.
Reporting is optional. If you only want the messages stopped on your phone, use the block control without selecting the report option. That local block does not send a Google spam report.
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Block only or block and report?
| Choice | What happens on your phone | Information sent | When it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block only | The sender is blocked; the conversation is kept out of your normal inbox according to Messages’ blocking behavior. | No Google spam report is submitted. | You want to stop contact but do not want to share message information for abuse analysis. |
| Block and report spam | The sender is blocked and the thread moves to Spam & blocked. | Google receives the sender’s number and, for a spam report, the last 10 incoming messages. A carrier may receive the number and most recent message. | The message is genuinely unsolicited, fraudulent, or part of a larger campaign. |
| Mark Not spam | The conversation is restored from the spam state. | Google receives information that the spam flag was removed and lets you decide whether to share the last 10 incoming messages. | A legitimate contact or expected service was incorrectly classified. |
Choose the report option when improving abuse detection matters and you are comfortable with the stated data sharing. Choose block only when your priority is stopping the sender without submitting message content.
What Google receives when you report
A submitted spam report is more than a local block. Google says it receives the spammer’s phone number and the last 10 incoming messages. For reported RCS messages, the report can include an RCS Message ID. A report involving a group can include group and participant metadata. Google may create a separate Spam reporting conversation so the reporting process is represented in Messages.
The report can also send the spammer’s number and the most recent message to your mobile carrier. Carrier handling varies, so the appearance of a carrier-side report and any follow-up are not guaranteed. The sender is not shown your report.
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If you select Not spam for a wrongly flagged thread, Google receives the fact that the spam label was removed. Google’s control also lets you choose whether to share the last 10 incoming messages in that safe-marking flow. Read that choice before confirming if the conversation contains sensitive information.
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How Spam protection detects suspicious messages
Google describes Spam protection as using machine-learning models that operate on the device to identify known spam patterns. Routine detection can work without a data connection, which helps the basic screening continue when the phone is offline. On-device processing limits routine content sharing, but it is not an absolute promise that no information ever leaves the phone.
When a message contains a URL, Messages may upload that URL to Google to check whether the link is malicious. Google also says it may ephemerally process unencrypted message contents for detection and model improvement. Those statements describe processing for the feature; they are distinct from the larger data package sent when you deliberately submit a spam report.
RCS chats are end-to-end encrypted when RCS is enabled. Google’s description still allows ephemeral processing of unencrypted message contents for detection and model improvement. Encryption does not turn off Spam protection, and turning Spam protection off does not retract a report that has already been submitted.
Scam Detection and regional availability
Scam Detection is part of Spam protection rather than a separate app. Where it is available, it is on by default and focuses on conversations with non-contacts. Google describes its initial English rollout in the U.S., U.K., and Canada and says expansion is planned. The wording, warning style, and menu presence can therefore differ by country, device model, account, and software release.
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A warning is a prompt to investigate, not proof that a message is fraudulent. Conversely, an ordinary-looking conversation can still be a scam if the sender is impersonating a bank, delivery company, employer, government office, or someone you know. Treat the warning as one signal and verify the request independently.
Safe handling before you report
- Do not reply. A response confirms that your number is active and can invite more messages.
- Do not call the number in the text. A scammer can route the call to an imitation support desk.
- Do not open links or attachments. They can lead to credential theft, malware, or a fake payment page.
- Verify the claim elsewhere. Type the organization’s known website yourself, use its official app, or check a statement rather than using contact details in the message.
- Preserve evidence when necessary. If the text relates to financial loss, harassment, or an investigation, capture screenshots and note the time before moving the thread.
- Then use Block & report spam. Where your carrier provides a separate abuse-reporting channel, submit the preserved details there as well.
Do not forward a scam to friends as a warning if forwarding could expose their numbers or make the link easier to tap. A screenshot with personal information redacted is safer for explaining the attempt to someone who needs to know.
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Restore the conversation
Open Spam & blocked, select the legitimate conversation, and use the conversation control to mark it Not spam. Messages removes the spam flag and returns the thread to your normal messaging view. The safe-marking flow explains whether you want to share the last 10 incoming messages; choose deliberately if the thread contains one-time codes, medical details, financial information, or private conversations.
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Save important senders as contacts when appropriate, keep the conversation rather than repeatedly deleting it, and ask the organization to use a recognizable sender identity. These steps do not guarantee delivery because Google’s detection models and carrier filtering are separate systems, but they make an expected conversation easier for you to identify.
Troubleshooting missing controls or unexpected results
The Protection & Safety section is missing
Google states that Spam protection appears only when available on the device. Confirm that you are using Google Messages rather than another SMS application, install any pending Messages update, and check again under your profile picture or initials. If the menu remains absent, the feature may not yet be supported for that device or region. There is no supported setting path that can force Scam Detection to appear.
The report option is not shown
Open the conversation and use More options > Details to look for Block & report spam. If the interface offers only blocking, select block to stop the sender and use any carrier reporting method available in your country. Do not repeatedly tap controls or forward the message simply to make a report appear.
A message disappeared after detection
Check Spam & blocked before assuming it was deleted. Spam protection can hide suspected spam in that folder or prevent delivery entirely. If you find a legitimate message there, use Not spam and review the optional sharing decision.
You reported the wrong conversation
There is no promise that an already submitted report can be withdrawn. You can unblock the number later from your blocked-conversation controls, but unblocking does not erase information already sent to Google or a carrier. If the thread was legitimate, mark it Not spam and avoid submitting another report for the same conversation.
Privacy and practical trade-offs
Keeping Spam protection enabled gives you automatic filtering, possible Scam Detection warnings, and less need to inspect every unsolicited message. The trade-off is that URL checks can involve uploading a URL, unencrypted content may be processed ephemerally for detection and model improvement, and a deliberate report shares the sender number plus recent messages. RCS encryption remains in force for RCS chats when enabled, but it does not remove the reporting data described above.
Turning the feature off avoids its automatic filtering and warnings. You then need to recognize suspicious messages yourself and use manual blocking. Blocking without reporting minimizes the information sent to Google, while block-and-report contributes sender and message data to abuse analysis and may involve your carrier. None of these choices prevents a scammer from attempting contact through another number or channel.
A repeatable workflow for future scam texts
- Pause and read the message without tapping links, calling, or replying.
- Check whether the sender is a known contact and verify the claimed organization through an independent channel.
- Save screenshots or other evidence if the text may be needed for a dispute or investigation.
- In Google Messages, touch and hold the conversation, tap Block, choose Report spam, and confirm when you want Google to receive the report.
- Use Block without reporting when you only want local blocking.
- Look in Spam & blocked if an expected message is missing, and mark it Not spam when appropriate.
- Review Profile picture or initials > Messages settings > Protection & Safety > Spam protection if you need to change automatic filtering for future conversations.
This workflow separates the three decisions that are easy to confuse: whether Messages should filter automatically, whether a particular sender should be blocked, and whether Google and possibly your carrier should receive a report.
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