How To Block SMS Spam

SMS spam is a common problem. And in my own travel experience, spam is severe in countries like India, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Such unwanted content can range from discounts to prostitution. And while it can be hilarious to read at times, these SMSes can really piss you off when you’re tight for time.

India-based start-up, Optinno, had enough of the SMS mess and created a spam guard called smsBlocker, in an effort to stop this once and for all. All you need is just one mobile app that does the filtering work for you.

Sagar Bedmutha of Optinno explained to me that every SMS coming from an unknown number or sender is checked against 7000+ spam cases to conclude whether a SMS is spam. The whole algorithm is able to accurately block over 95% of the spam on its own. It works pretty similarly to an email spam blocker. Sagar elaborates:

Almost all mobile users across the globe are facing this common problem of SMS spam. Especially in countries like India, Indonesia, Vietnam where the regulations have failed to stop spam, the problem is becoming a big headache for the consumers. It is estimated that India alone is set to waste productive time worth $795 Million just by reading spam SMS in the next year.

Wow. $795 million worth of productive time wasted! That’s a pretty staggering number. No wonder smsBlocker is quickly gaining popularity among users. The app has also won numerous awards from Nokia and NASSCOM to just name a few. Sagar also claims that smsBlocker is the only mobile application in the world that can intelligently detect SMS spam.

Besides blocking spam based on algorithms, users can also set their own rules and requirements to ensure that authentic SMS such as bank alerts or relevant discount SMS information doesn’t get blocked. In the event that the app can’t decide if a SMS is a spam, it will prompt the user to verify it before dumping it under the spam folder. Interestingly, I also learned that smsBlocker can also understand and block Hinglish (Hindi mixes with English) SMS spam.

The app is currently available to both Nokia and Android users.

Update: Sagar told me that the BlackBerry version is coming out very soon. No specific dates were given. For iPhones, Sagar says, “iPhone, technically not possible as of now. Apple has not released the necessary APIs.”