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Spam message through system android

Gilmour

Gilmour

Member
Anybody got spammed through android system?

I've been reading something on Techradar and a brief message came up. But for some reason a window popped out at the botton of the screen with details CITI(alert). I knew it was via Samsung Messages app because it made the same notification sound as messages with edge lighting style(Samsung S21). Plus it had count budge. But this windows looked very suspicious.. I've never seen messages with this type of pop out window. Then i opened messages app(not the pop out window) and no message was to be found in the list. I went to notification history in the setting and saw that Android System was used last. Now this Android System is responsible for notification and especially for Alerts,devs, updates, network security and all other very important system notifications. I wonder if message came from API or from my system? And it also couldn't came from the browser because notifications for browser in blocked by android in android settings as well as browser itself.

I'm on latest Android 12 with May Security updates.

Anybody else seen anything like that?
 
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what phone do you have?

not sure what "CITI(alert)" is.

is it Citibank app?

android system is any system app which can include messaging. so blaming it is not the correct assumption.

you can put the phone in safe mode which prevents any 3rd party apps from running. if this message stops popping up, then you can assume that you have some kind of malware on your phone. it usually comes when you install an app....so....you might want to start uninstalling the most recent apps first and then work you way backwards until it stops. also before uninstalling the app make sure that you wipe the app's cache and data. sometimes these temporary files stay behind and does not get uninstalled with the app. the malware can reside in such temp files.....so....make sure to delete those first and then uninstall the app.
 
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ocnbrze said:
what phone do you have?

not sure what "CITI(alert)" is.

is it Citibank app?

android system is any system app which can include messaging. so blaming it is not the correct assumption.

you can put the phone in safe mode which prevents any 3rd party apps from running. if this message stops popping up, then you can assume that you have some kind of malware on your phone. it usually comes when you install an app....so....you might want to start uninstalling the most recent apps first and then work you way backwards until it stops. also before uninstalling the app make sure that you wipe the app's cache and data. sometimes these temporary files stay behind and does not get uninstalled with the app. the malware can reside in such temp files.....so....make sure to delete those first and then uninstall the app.
Click to expand...

Samsung S21 5G

Yes, Citi(alert) it's a fake Citi Bank sms messages.

Samsung UI has app notification history menu where you can monitor which app has recently sent notification. The reason why I'm suspecting Android system because it was recent in the history and messaging app showed that it was used like 5 hours ago.

I did not install any apps recently and all apps scanned by Google play. Nothing suspicious to my eye. The only app I use which is not from playstore is Newpipe but it's pretty safe.
 
You got a spam text.
This is not an android issue at all.
Say hello to all of the spammers out there, this will happen again.
Just block these kinds of text messages and you'll be fine moving forward.
 
Unfortunately, many of the spam texts I get come from email addresses so you cannot block those. I just delete them and they eventually stop. They're fishing for a response. If you respond, even to ask 'who r u?' you'll never see the end of them. I had to change phone numbers once because I got angry and asked 'who the heck are you?' and they really started to flood in after that. Like, ten per hour. All of them MMSs with really NSFW pictures.
 
I have noticed the 'spam text' issue is far worse with ATT and T-Mobile over Verizon for some reason. There's many threads out there that suggest calling customer service and telling them some article type that allows them to disable the email to text gateway in order to stop spam texts from email addresses:

https://forums.att.com/conversation...ddress-how-to-report/5df01d02bad5f2f6060c6938

Unfortunately it doesn't work for me since I'm using ATT via Straight Talk and their CSRs are Indian and can barely speak English much less know the technical ins and outs of disabling email gateways so I just delete them once they show up. I do NOT have this issue with Verizon, only with phones on AT&T/T-Mobile. Perhaps Verizon got rid of their ancient email to text gateway?

Here's an example of what I get on a modern phone on AT&T:

827328040.png


FYI: NEVER respond to them. If you do you will get TONS and it will NEVER stop. I don't know what's the incentive for this but perhaps they just love annoying people? I actually had to change my phone number since it got so bad I was getting nude pictures via MMS.
 
Oh believe me it wasn't even porn most of the time. A lot of it involved children and butchered animal pictures. Nothing I want on any device.
 
If you have received a spam message on your Android device, there are several things you can do to deal with it:
  1. Block the sender: Most messaging apps, such as SMS or WhatsApp, have the option to block specific senders. This can help prevent further spam messages from that sender.
  2. Report the message: Some messaging apps have the option to report spam messages to the app developer or service provider. Reporting the message can help the app developer or service provider identify and take action against spammers.
  3. Use a spam filter: Some Android devices and messaging apps have built-in spam filters that can help identify and filter out spam messages. You can also install third-party spam filter apps from the Google Play Store.
  4. Be cautious with unknown senders: If you receive a message from an unknown sender, be cautious about clicking on any links or downloading any attachments. These could potentially be harmful and contain malware or viruses.
  5. Keep your device and apps up-to-date: Make sure your Android device and messaging apps are updated to the latest version. This can help address any known security vulnerabilities that could be exploited by spammers.
If you continue to receive spam messages despite taking these steps, you may want to consider contacting your service provider or seeking assistance from a technical support professional.
 
number one is not always possible. Many SMS apps only allow you to block phone numbers, not email addresses, which are where most of these spam texts come from. Reporting messages via short code also won't work as the response will be a carrier request for the phone number, and since again, these are emails being sent to phone numbers via an email-to-text gateway, the email address in response just reproduces the same request for a phone number over and over again.

Best means of getting rid of these are 1), don't give your phone number on any online form, as many companies sell it to god knows where, always provide them a fake phone number. They don't have a legitimate reason for your personal phone number anyway. Many companies only correspond via email for things such as account and billing notifications, so the phone number is just sold to the largest bidder.

2), don't respond to them. Ultimately they're fishing for a response to confirm it's a live number, often just dialing out random numbers hoping for a response. Eventually, they cease.
 
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