Spam can affect almost every communication medium. Emails, texts, social media and messaging apps all fall prey to spammers. Yes, WhatsApp.
Spam messages are not only annoying but can also be potentially dangerous. Spammers often attempt to get your personal information or to make you click on harmful links. Although it can be difficult to completely protect yourself against spam, there are some things that you can do to block and prevent spam from WhatsApp.
Report or block a contact
1. You will need to go to the message thread with the spam message. Be careful not to click any links in the message.
2. Click on the contact link at the top of the page.
3. To block contact, tap "Block Contact" at bottom. Tap "Report Contact" to report.
You will find "block contact" as well as "report contact" at bottom. Screengrab: Whatsapp
4. When prompted, tap "Block" or "Report Again". You can also tap "Report Contact", and both will be available.
Change your privacy settings
1. Navigate to your WhatsApp settings.
2. Click "Account".
Check your account settings. Screengrab: Whatsapp
3. Tap the "Privacy” button at the top.
4. You can adjust your privacy settings to control who can view your online status, profile picture, "Last Seen," your "About" section and who can add your name to groups.
You can check your privacy settings. Screengrab from Whatsapp
5. You can edit these settings by tapping on each one and selecting "Everyone", "My Contacts," (or "Nobody") to make changes. "Nobody", obviously, gives you more privacy than "Everyone," while "Everyone", gives you less.
It can be difficult to determine if a message has been sent from spam. It's not always obvious. However, sometimes the message may look completely authentic. This is, of course, by design. WhatsApp provides useful information on how to spot spam messages and what they look like. The WhatsApp Help Center has a section called "spam and unwelcome messages".
