A text or call you doubt?

Do not click, reply or give any details. Check with the organisation using contact details you already hold, then report the message where you live. In some countries the right place to report depends on who the message says it is from.

The short answer. Do not click, reply or give details. Check with the organisation using contact details you already hold, then report it: forward a text to 7726 in the United Kingdom and United States, report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov in the United States or Report Fraud in the United Kingdom. In South Africa the route depends on who the message claims to be from, such as the bank, SARS or an unwanted marketing sender.

Last reviewed 5 October 2026. Based on the United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Report Fraud (United Kingdom), the United States Federal Trade Commission, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa and UtilForge’s Official help page. This is general information, not legal advice.

First, whatever the country

1. Do not click a link, reply or call a number in the message. SABRIC advises against clicking links in unsolicited texts and against replying to them, and says to delete them.
2. Check through contact details you already hold. SABRIC says that if you are worried about what a text says, you should contact the organisation using your own contact details. For a bank, that is the number printed on your card or in the bank’s own app.
3. On a call, hang up. The Federal Bureau of Investigation advises hanging up, finding the contact details of the bank or organisation that was claimed, and calling that number directly. SABRIC says banks do not ask you to confirm confidential information over the phone.
4. Keep a note before you delete. This step is UtilForge’s suggestion: the number, the time and what was said or written help if you report it later. The Check first field guide has a page to write them down.

Where to report, country by country

United Kingdom. The NCSC says most phone providers belong to a scheme that lets you report a suspicious text for free by forwarding it to 7726. If you lost money or were hacked after a call, report to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or call Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland.

United States. The Federal Trade Commission gives three ways to report a suspicious text: forward it to 7726 (SPAM), use the report option in your messaging app, or report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. A suspicious call can also be reported at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If money has been sent, contact the bank or payment service straight away.

South Africa. We could not find one place that takes reports of every suspicious text, so the route depends on who the message says it is from:

• A bank. Tell the bank, on the number on your card or in its app. SABRIC’s page lists the fraud lines of the main banks.
• SARS. SARS asks you not to click any links and to send the message to phishing@sars.gov.za.
• Unwanted marketing texts. Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association has an online form for unsolicited commercial messages at waspa.org.za/report-spam. It can tell a member company if you name one. Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association also keeps a Do Not Contact list at dnc.org.za, and its page says that using the text message short code can cost up to 50 cents a message.
• A crime, or money lost. Report it at a police station. Crime Stop, 08600 10111, takes information without a name.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, the communications regulator, is not on this list, because its complaints page says it does not handle text message spam and it points to other bodies instead.

Elsewhere. Official help, country by country has the reporting route for your country.

What reporting does, and what it does not

The Federal Trade Commission says that forwarding a text to 7726 helps your phone company spot and block similar messages. The rest of this section is UtilForge’s own reasoning: a report does not by itself return money, so if money has already been sent, tell the bank first.

Sources

• NCSC, report a scam text message (published 26 November 2021, last reviewed 5 September 2022)
• The Federal Trade Commission, how to recognize and report spam text messages (updated July 2022)
• Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center alert, 3 December 2024
• SABRIC, how to stay safe (no date shown on the page)
• SARS, scam alert (no date shown on the page)
• Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association, report text message scams and spam and Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association Do Not Contact list
• The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, consumer complaints procedure

Related guides

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