The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reported increases in complaints due to scam robotexts. According to the organization, the amount of scam texts from robocall and robotext blocking services are increasing alongside the scam texts themselves. The FCC tracks consumer complaints, and found that the number of complaints have risen from 5700 in 2019 to 15,300 in 2021. Many of the scam texts contain messages regarding fake unpaid bills, bank account issues, and package deliveries. In addition, some of the scams pretend to be texting someone else.

Text-based scammers are typically working on financial motives or to gain personal information about the recipient. The FCC previously mandated the use of anti-spoofing technology to stop scammers by applying digital signatures to telephone numbers. This means that targets often receive phone calls that state “scam risk” and are therefore more aware of the nature of that call. The technology only applies to voice calls, not text messages.

Read More: FCC Warns of Rising Robotext Scams