Text message protection is a Surfshark security solution available on Android that automatically scans your incoming SMS messages for scam and phishing attempts in real time. If notifications are enabled, you will receive an alert as soon as a message is flagged. You can then safely view and engage with the content of these messages directly within the Surfshark app.
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, you will first receive a notification alerting you to the potential threat. The message is then flagged within the Surfshark app, allowing you to review it separately from your regular conversations. You can access all flagged messages at any time via the Text message protection dashboard, located under the Prevent threats section.
How to set it up and use it?
- Open the Surfshark app on your Android device.
- Scroll down to the Prevent threats section and tap Text message protection:
- Tap Turn on to enable the feature:
- Tap Allow access to grant access to your messages and contacts:
- Tap Allow to grant Surfshark access to view SMS and MMS messages:
- Tap Allow to grant Surfshark access to your contacts:
- Tap Allow to enable notifications about scam text messages:
- Tap Allow to enable notifications:
- Once enabled, the feature runs automatically in the background, screening all future incoming messages. Tap Explore to view the dashboard:
Find filtered scam messages
- Open Surfshark app on your Android device.
- Scroll down to the Prevent threats section and tap the suspicious messages summary under Text message protection:
- You'll see a list of all suspicious messages detected, so you can review each one individually:
- Tap on any message in the list to view more details about it:
Explore the dashboard
- Open Surfshark app on your Android device.
- Scroll down to the Prevent threats section and tap the arrow next to Text message protection to open its dashboard:
- You'll land on the Text message protection dashboard, giving you a full overview of your protection activity and settings:
- Suspicious — the number of messages flagged as scams or phishing attempts;
- Total checked — the total number of incoming messages scanned since the feature was enabled;
- Potential loss prevented — an estimated dollar value representing the financial harm you may have avoided by having suspicious messages blocked (available for the US region only);
- Suspicious messages list — a preview of your most recently flagged messages. Tap View all link to see the complete history;
- Get notified on receiving a scam message — toggle this on to receive an alert the moment a suspicious message is detected, or off if you'd rather check the dashboard manually;
- Check if the sender is from your contacts — toggle this on to cross-reference incoming senders against your phone contacts, which helps reduce false positives from numbers you already trust;
- Turn off text message protection — disables the feature entirely; incoming messages will no longer be scanned until you turn it back on.