Text message protection is a Surfshark security feature available on iOS that automatically scans your incoming SMS messages for scam and phishing attempts in real time. When the feature detects a suspicious message, it moves it directly to the Spam folder in your Messages app, keeping potential threats out of your main inbox.
NOTE: Text message protection is available with the Surfshark One and Surfshark One+ plans.
How Text message protection works?
Once enabled, Text message protection checks every future incoming text message for signs of fraud, such as suspicious sender numbers or malicious links.
- Sender's phone number — checked to help identify known spam or scam sources.
- Message content — scanned for scam patterns and suspicious language.
- URLs in the message — any links included in the text are analyzed for malicious intent.
NOTE: Surfshark does not store or retain the content of your texts after the scan is complete — the data is only accessed for the brief period needed to perform the check and deliver a result. Some anonymized data may be used to improve the accuracy of the scam-detection system, but it is never used to train AI models, and your identity remains protected throughout the process.
What happens when a threat is detected?
If Text message protection identifies a message as suspicious, it's automatically moved to the Spam folder within the native Messages app, separating it from your regular conversations. You can review spam-flagged messages at any time from that folder.
How to set it up and use it?
- Open the Surfshark app on your iOS device.
- Tap the Antiscam tab in the bottom navigation menu:
- Find Text message protection and tap to enable it:
- Tap Turn on and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on text message protection:
- Once enabled, the feature runs automatically in the background, screening all future incoming messages.
Find filtered scam messages
- Open the Messages app:
- Tap the filter icon in the top right:
- Select Spam: