So yes, spam is a serious concern. WhatsApp spam exists as well, but since there's a central authority, unlike with SMS, it's a lot harder to avoid being shutdown.
I see SMS/MMS spam in spurts; I'll get one or two spam messages a day for a week or so, and then nothing for months. On Whatsapp, I get a few spam messages a month. I've never seen spam on GChat or FB Messenger. I don't use Viber or Telegram, so can't speak to those.
We do have facility for DND with Deparatment of Telecom but seems to come up short as mine is in DND but receive several messages and calls through out the day.
I have had the occasional iMessage spam too but haven't seen that in years.
Luckily Google has added anti spam features to Google Messenger for years now and it filters out 99.999% of them. Once in a blue moon, a txt will slip by and i have to mark it as spam.
What kind of spam are people (presumably in the US) getting outside of iMessage? I’m in the EU, I get very little SMS spam (mostly for telecom’s clumsy attempts to find more ways to monetize me).
I also have Viber, Telegram, and FB messenger, and the spam is virtually zero on Viber (less than an “offer” a month, and it’s from the likes of Coca Cola, not herbal viagra) and literally zero on the others.
Is spam significantly worse elsewhere?