SmishAlert for iPhone
Scam texts, caught before you tap.
SmishAlert filters suspicious texts from unknown senders on your iPhone and helps you check the ones you're not sure about. Protect your phone, then set it up for the people you care about.
Free to download · Requires iOS 17.6 or later · Filtering requires a subscription
USPS: your package is on hold. Update your address to reschedule delivery.
Moved to Spam
Final notice: you have an outstanding toll of $6.99. Pay now to avoid a $50 penalty.
Moved to Spam
Did you authorize a $1,842.00 transfer? Reply NO to cancel.
Moved to Spam
Protect yourself
The problem isn't that scam texts look fake.
It's that they don't. The good ones borrow a real brand, a real amount, and a deadline that makes you act before you think. You only need to be busy once.
There's a small “redelivery fee” at the end. The page exists to capture your card.
Toll authorities don't chase small balances by text. The urgency is the whole attack.
Replying starts a phone call from “fraud prevention” who asks you to read a code aloud.
Setup takes about two minutes
Three steps, then you forget it exists.
Install the app
Download SmishAlert from the App Store and open it. Onboarding walks you through the rest.
Turn on filtering
Settings → Messages → Unknown & Spam → Text Message Filtering → SmishAlert. This is Apple's own switch; we just plug into it.
Get on with your day
Suspicious texts land in Spam instead of your inbox. Nothing to open, check, or remember.
Protect your family
Protect the people who call you when a text doesn't look right.
The same scams reach everyone in your life. Set SmishAlert up on their iPhone next time you're together. It takes about two minutes, and it keeps working after you leave.
A parent
Gets the toll and delivery texts, and calls you to ask. Now the answer is already in Spam.
A partner
Busy, on the move, and the bank alert arrives at exactly the wrong moment. Filtered before it lands.
A teenager
First phone, first job, first “your account is suspended” text. Sorted before the tap.
One iPhone at a time, on their Apple ID. No remote setup, nothing for you to manage afterwards.
Get SmishAlert for iPhoneCheck suspicious texts
Not sure about a text? Check it.
Forward the message and get a plain answer back in seconds. You'll see one of four verdicts, nothing more clever than that.
- Likely fraudulent
- Suspicious
- No clear signs of fraud detected
- We can't determine this confidently
Every answer tells you what the message appears to be trying to do and where to be careful, so you can decide with your eyes open.
Text it to us
(866) 591-9781Forward the text, or paste it in. Messages you send are analyzed to answer you and are not kept. Your phone number is not stored on a permanent record.
Checking is the first step. Filtering is the point: install SmishAlert and the next one never reaches you.
What we can and can't see
A spam filter shouldn't cost you your messages.
iOS hands a message-filtering app only what arrives from senders who aren't in your contacts. What happens next is your choice, and it's the only difference between the two plans.
On Personal
Classification runs on your iPhone. No message, no fragment, and no link ever leaves the device automatically. The only thing we receive is what you deliberately report.
On Unknown Guard
Messages from unknown senders are analyzed to identify the sender pattern, and are not retained. No name or account is attached, and we do not read messages from your contacts or known senders.
The full detail, in plain English: our privacy policy.
Plans
Two plans. Both billed by Apple.
Annual only, purchased in the app. Cancel any time in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions.
Personal
$49.99/yearMaximum privacy. Everything happens on your phone.
- On-device filtering for SMS and iMessage
- Suspicious texts moved to Spam automatically
- Report from the share sheet, a screenshot, or Report Junk
- QR code scanning before you open a link
- Nothing leaves your device automatically
Unknown Guard
$79.99/yearEvery unknown sender screened for you, with a verdict.
- Everything in Personal
- Automatic screening of unknown senders
- Link checks on messages you never opened
- Matched against scams hitting other people
- No identity attached to any of it
There is no free trial, message filtering needs an active subscription. You get 1 free report first so you can see the reporting flow before you commit.
FAQ
Before you install
Can SmishAlert read my texts?
Not your conversations. iOS only ever hands a message-filtering app messages from senders who are not in your contacts, and on the Personal plan the decision is made entirely on your iPhone, nothing is sent anywhere. On Unknown Guard, unknown-sender messages are analyzed to identify the sender pattern and are not retained. Messages from people in your contacts are never included on either plan.
Does it work on iMessage, or just SMS?
Both. Apple's Message Filtering extension covers SMS and iMessage from unknown senders, so SmishAlert sees the same set of messages either way.
Do I have to keep the app open?
No. Once you've selected SmishAlert under Settings → Messages → Unknown & Spam, filtering runs in the background. Open the app when you want to review activity, report something, or scan a QR code.
What iPhone do I need?
Any iPhone running iOS 17.6 or later. There's no VPN, no carrier change, and no profile to install.
Can I set it up on someone else's iPhone?
Yes, and that's the best way to protect a parent, a partner or a teenager: install it on their phone while you're together, sign in with their Apple ID, and turn on filtering in Settings. Each iPhone has its own subscription. After that there's nothing for you to manage.
Is there a free trial?
No. Message filtering requires an active subscription. You do get 1 free report so you can try the reporting flow before you decide, and both plans are billed annually through your Apple ID, cancel any time in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions.
Which plan should I pick?
Personal ($49.99/year) if you want the quietest possible privacy posture, filtering happens on your phone and nothing leaves it. Unknown Guard ($79.99/year) if you'd rather have every unknown sender screened automatically, with link checks and a verdict, so you never dig through the unknown folder yourself.
How much can I rely on the answer?
A lot, for what it says. Each verdict describes what the message appears to be trying to do and where to be careful. “No clear signs of fraud detected” means exactly that: we looked and found nothing that matches how scams behave. Nobody can guarantee a stranger's message, so treat the answer as a well-informed second opinion rather than a green light, and you'll make a better call than you would alone.
What if I already reported the text to my carrier?
Keep doing that, forwarding to 7726 helps your carrier. Reporting to SmishAlert additionally feeds the detection that protects everyone else using the app, which is why a scam one person reports gets harder to land on the next person.
Two minutes, once
Next time, you won't have to decide.
The best outcome is the text you never see, because it went to Spam while you were doing something else.
Free to download · Requires iOS 17.6 or later · Filtering requires a subscription
My company sent me here
If your workplace set up SmishAlert for you, follow the link they sent. Your company's plan covers the subscription. Automatic screening covers unknown-sender messages only; everything else reaches your security team only when you choose to report it.
Looking at this for a company?
SmishAlert protects whole teams too, with a security view your leadership can act on. That lives on our company site.