We’ve all seen it. A sketchy text pops up selling something or asking for money. Then it says, “Reply STOP to opt out.” Sounds helpful, right? Well, not always.
When you reply at all, even with “STOP,” you’re telling the sender there’s a real person on the other end. And once they know that, you might get even more junk texts.
If the message is from a real place you trust, like your doctor, bank, or school, replying “STOP” is fine. They’ll usually honor it.
But if it feels spammy, don’t engage at all. The best thing you can do is block the number.
On both iPhone and Android, you can tap the message, choose the sender, and block them in a few seconds. You can also turn on message filtering, too.
So next time you get a text from a number you don’t recognize, think twice before replying “STOP.”
