Messaging spam
spam targeting users of instant messaging (IM) services, SMS, or private messages within websites
Messaging spam, sometimes called SPIM, is a type of spam targeting users of instant messaging (IM) services, SMS, or private messages within websites.
Instant messaging applications
Instant messaging systems, such as Telegram, WhatsApp, Twitter Direct Messaging, Kik, Skype and Snapchat are all targets for spammers. Many IM services are publicly linked to social media platforms, which may include information on the user such as age, sex, location and interests. Advertisers and scammers can gather this information, sign on to the service, and send unsolicited messages which could contain scam links, pornographic material, malware or ransomware. With most services users can report and block spam accounts, or set privacy settings so only contacts can contact them.
Countermeasures
Many users choose to receive IMs only from people already on their contact list.
In corporate settings, spam over IM is blocked by IM spam blockers like those from Actiance, ScanSafe, and Symantec.
IM providers like Kik have a "report user" button, which sends a chatlog to the IM administrators who can then take action.
Pornographic IM spambots
Spam-bots often sign on to popular messaging services like Kik or Skype to spread pornographic images. Often if the user responds they receive a URL inviting them to a private livestream that will ask them to enter credit card details for "age verification".
“Messaging spam” enters the record as spam targeting users of instant messaging (IM) services, SMS, or private messages within websites. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Messaging, spam and targeting can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Messaging spam” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Messaging, spam and targeting provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1847111. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Messaging spam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.