Text Messages From Gmail.com Addresses

Over the last week I have been getting text messages in the early AM from gmail.com addresses.  The addresses themselves are nothing more then a bunch of letters and numbers thrown together so they are clearly fake and were set up to send text messages and then be discarded.   You can't forward the text to 7726 because it is not a phone number.  I can't find a way to block them either.  I am reluctant to even open them since they are nothing more then a live link.  I was wondering if anyone know a way to block all texts from .com addresses?  This is simply another form of harassment and invasion of privacy brought to us the the "Omnipotent" IT people from Google.  Bet they are being harassed by these texts.

You might try looking through the options of your service provider via your online account login and see if they have any options such as, 'Block all text messages sent from the web' or 'block all text messages sent from email'. There should be an option under one of those to block a "domain" like 'Google.com'.

AT&T has special instructions for their Representatives to use, called “Article 446389″. People have said you call AT&T One Time and tell the rep to use that Article and it gives them instructions on how to block all emails being sent as text messages. I'm sure other Service Providers have a similar thing.

I have Verizon and there is allegedly a way to do it.  However I have a prepaid phone and not a contract phone.  They only offer that service on contract phones.  I tried to chat with a rep but they are always busy.  I'll keep trying to get through to them but it might take a while.  I tried forwarding them to abuse@gmail.com but it doesn't work.  I reported them as spam to Verizon but my guess is that if they do anything at all it will be to simply block future texts from that particular address.  This is simply another case of some idiot working for Google that had a brain fart and thought that this would be a good idea.

You can block calls and texts from anyone *not* in your smart phone's contacts list.

https://twigby.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/ ... ur-Contact-List

I'll look into those apps but these texts are not coming from a phone number.  They are actually coming from a gmail account.  When you look at it the sender will be (gibberish)@gmail.com.  If it was a phone number I would forward it to 7726 and also report it as spam to Verizon.  The best I could do so far is to report it as Spam to Verizon.

It also appears that I am not the only one with complaints:

https://support.google.com/mail/thread/25870078?hl=en
https://support.google.com/mail/thread/15037093?hl=en

I don't know the differences between having a pre-paid phone verses a contract phone when it comes to your account, but I found this 3 year old Verizon blog post:

Quote:

You could try blocking them via your My Verizon account.  If logged into  My Verizon, hover over My Plans & Services at the top, then click Blocks.  Click Block E-Mails and Domains, then under E-mail Address or Domain, enter the domain to block.

Source

Don't know if it changed over the years, but might be a starting point. I also found this one:

Quote:

-From a web browser, sign in to My Verizon.
-From the My Verizon Home screen, navigate: Account > My Plan > Blocks.
-Click Block emails & domains.
(note: If needed, select a specific device on the account.)
-Enter the email address or domain you wish to block then click Save.
(note: Only 15 spam blocks can be applied.)
-Click OK.

Source

EDIT:: Don't know if this is helpful or not, as I can't view the Features, but you can check in there .

Quote:

10 - Can I block any services in My Verizon for prepaid accounts?
You can block Caller ID and block messaging on the Features page in My Verizon for prepaid accounts.

Source

OK, let me try that because I'm on chat right now with Verizon and this guy seems clueless.  Not only that he has disappeared for the last half hour.  Turns out he "hung up" on me! LOL.  Great customer service.  I tried both of those solutions and there is no option to block.  I am almost certain that I ran into this before with them and you have to have a contract in order to access all the other stuff.  Of course that costs a lot more money then a prepaid plan.

thanks for the info MH and BigA - my wife's cell got a text from a gmail.com with a link (sender name and link looked wierd) at 12:19 AM! on the 19th - and I had gotten one similar but not same about 90 minutes earlier.  Went on Verizon website where our account is and found the "block texts from email" option and set it.

I'm just amazed at the help and the spot on technical expertise of (some) of those who visit this site.  Knowledge is power.  Bravo!