If you're going to lie about this, it would help to actually be familiar with the application you're lying about. For starters, received messages in iMessage are always gray, regardless of the recipient. It's the outgoing messages that are blue or not blue.

I’m not lying. Also not sure why I’m downvoted. I occasionally receive spam messages from iMessage users, not conventional SMS. I do not know how these spammers manage to send them, but the senders are always identified with an email in the app, that’s how I could tell it apart from conventional SMS.

I guess (based on the skeptical reactions) your experience is atypical now-a-days, but based on your comment, I did find a 2014 wired article saying that while previously unheard of, iMessage now [then] accounted for 30% of spam, from email addresses like you described. I had no idea. Somehow I avoided that. I didn’t find anything more recent, though, so maybe it’s less of a problem now?

https://www.wired.com/2014/08/apples-imessage-is-being-taken...

I do know first hand that Apple will turn off (starting at several days) an Apple user’s ability to use iMessage if they get even several reports, though.

The GP is using a euphemism popular in the US. Indeed, the sent messages are colored not the received ones, but the euphemism labels the cause of the color, not the person receiving the text. If you are not from the US I'm sure this is weird.

Wait, what? Android user here so I might just be confused, but my impression always was that it's the received messages that are different, hence the whole blue/green bubble debacle, and Android users being bullied for having green bubble texts.

See my sibling comment for an explanation.

Received messages are always grey. It's sent messgaes that change colors. So a message from an Android, iPhone, windows phone, feature phone, etc. will always appear with a grey bubble. A sent imessage message to an iPhone user will be blue. A sent SMS text message to a iphone, android phone, feature phone, etc. will be in a green bubble.

Why lie?

This isn't a useful comment, you're just assuming your experience is valid and others who disagree aren't, and using it to sling accusations of dishonesty.

If spam is really the problem Apple is worried about, then isn't it conceivable that it happens and that Apple has to work to keep spam low so you have a good experience? Such work is ongoing and sometimes spam gets through anyway. I don't think we should assume Apple's protections on occasional spam are perfect.