Neowin News Feed for: Spam

Thousands of users got affected by OneDrive unstoppable spam on Windows, Android, Mac

Sayan Sen — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 07:10:02 +0000

Microsoft had acknowledged that many users got affected by a weird OneDrive bug wherein spam files and folders would be shared with them by random users. Read more...

Reddit is considering using FaceID and passkeys to prove you're a human

Karthik Mudaliar — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 17:56:02 +0000

The "front page of the internet" is considering adding biometric checks, like FaceID, to verify its users are actually humans. Read more...

The Google Phone app may soon let you add additional context to a spam report

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 13:12:01 +0000

The Google Phone app may soon let you add more information to a spam report, such as what the scammer pretended to be and what they asked for. Read more...

Meta is working on a feature to reduce spam from businesses on WhatsApp

David Uzondu — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 11:42:01 +0000

Meta is testing a feature that will let users unsubscribe from certain types of messages from businesses. Read more...

Google will soon let you create single-use or limited-use email aliases

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 05:04:01 +0000

Google is tipped to work on a system that lets users create single-use email aliases, keeping your main email private. Read more...

Meta is partnering up with U.K. banks to prevent scams on its platforms

Karthik Mudaliar — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 19:22:01 +0000

Meta is partnering up with banks in the United Kingdom to combat fraudulent activities on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp with the help of the FIRE program. Read more...

Indian mobile carrier Airtel identifies over 115 million spam calls with the help of AI

Karthik Mudaliar — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 10:00:01 +0000

Airtel's AI-powered spam detection tool was able to identify over 115 million spam calls on the first day after it was implemented for customers across India. Read more...

Elon Musk's X will help you prevent unwanted link spamming on your posts

Aditya Tiwari — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 18:20:01 +0000

A new anti-spam feature in development might help reduce cases of link dropping on X (formerly Twitter). The social media platform is working on an option to disable link posting in post replies. Read more...

Gmail is working to cut down on spam at the source from 2024

Paul Hill — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 08:54:01 +0000

Google has outlined several measures taking senders of bulk emails to help cut down on spam. The company will be implementing the changes by February 2024 and users should see a difference. Read more...

Microsoft Edge now blocks abusive notifications from bad websites

Paul Hill — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 21:32:01 +0000

Microsoft said it has been taking drastic actions against websites that send spammy notifications out to users. Edge now bans some sites from sending notifications and silences other websites. Read more...

Robocalls to U.S. consumers fell to 4.3 billion in February, down 4% from January

Paul Hill — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 16:50:01 +0000

Robocalls in the United States fell in February but only because the month had fewer days compared to January. Daily averages were actually higher in February than they were in January. Read more...

If your Microsoft Outlook inbox had lots of spam today, you were not alone [Update]

John Callaham — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 13:50:01 +0000

Many users reported that the spam filters in Microsoft Outlook were not working earlier today. However, Microsoft has now sent Twitter message to some users saying the issue has been fixed. Read more...

India's telco authority plans to implement AI and ML-based solutions to curb SMS spam

Karthik Mudaliar — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 08:00:01 +0000

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is working to limit text message spam and financial frauds that occur over phone using artificial intelligence and machine learning models. Read more...

Due to 'Spam Folder Exemptions' Gmail users may get more political emails

Alap Naik Desai — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 01:08:01 +0000

Google is rolling out a pilot program that allows political campaigns to secure "Spam Folder Exemptions", which ensures Gmail's junk mail detection is intentionally stalled for certain emails. Read more...

Google Calendar now has a nifty way to filter out spam invites, here's how to use it

Usama Jawad — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 07:28:01 +0000

Google Calendar now has a new option that allows you to filter out potentially spam invites by only displaying invites that come from "known senders", such as those in your contact list. Read more...

Elon Musk is terminating his $44 billion Twitter acquisition

Usama Jawad — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 03:24:02 +0000

Elon Musk has filed to terminate his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, claiming that the platform did not provide him information about bot accounts. Twitter says that it will pursue legal action. Read more...

Elon Musk would unban Trump from Twitter, calls original decision "stupid"

Usama Jawad — Wed, 11 May 2022 06:26:01 +0000

In an interview, Elon Musk has stated that he would unban Donald Trump from Twitter if his acquisition completes. He called the original decision "morally wrong", "foolish", and "flat-out stupid". Read more...

Truecaller will come pre-installed on 100 million devices by 2024

Paul Hill — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 20:26:01 +0000

Truecaller is going to partner with several Android manufacturers to have its app pre-loaded on 100 million devices around the world by 2024. This should get it in the hands of the less tech-savvy. Read more...

UK phone networks to block foreign internet phone calls to fight spam

Paul Hill — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 14:10:01 +0000

Ofcom has asked phone networks to block internet calls from abroad posing with UK numbers. It hopes that it will make a dent in the number of spam calls that people in the UK receive. Read more...

Truecaller rolling out Spam Activity Indicator for Android users

Sambit Satpathy — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 09:02:01 +0000

A new feature for Truecaller Android users gives a detailed view on a number marked ‘spam' by users. The company is working on an update to bring this feature to the Live Caller ID on Android phones. Read more...

Gmail's spam filter might be broken for some, according to user reports

Abhay V — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 15:08:01 +0000

Gmail users are reporting that they are receiving an unusual number of spam emails in their inbox. An outage to the email service was fixed this morning, but there is no official word about spam yet. Read more...

Facebook has begun deranking posts with sensational health claims to improve feed quality

Paul Hill — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 04:36:01 +0000

Facebook has announced that it has begun deranking posts that contain sensational health claims in a bid to remove low-quality content from users' feeds. It said it introduced the change last month. Read more...

Twitter limits the number of accounts you can follow to 400 per day

Jay Bonggolto — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 20:24:01 +0000

Twitter is imposing a new limitation on the ability of users to follow multiple accounts. The new limit is set to 400 per day from the previous 1,000, except for verified accounts. Read more...

Google now uses TensorFlow to block 100 million more Gmail spam messages daily

Jay Bonggolto — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 03:46:02 +0000

Google claims that it is now preventing 100 million additional spam messages from reaching your Gmail inbox using TensorFlow, the search giant's open-source machine learning framework. Read more...

Facebook's ban hammer hits marketing firm in the Philippines for inauthentic behavior

Jay Bonggolto — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 16:48:01 +0000

Facebook has banned Twinmark Media Enterprises, a digital marketing company based in the Philippines. The firm is behind several pages that spread black propaganda against government critics. Read more...

YouTubers may see a decline in subscriptions as Google tackles spam on the platform

João Carrasqueira — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 21:36:01 +0000

YouTube is taking steps to reduce the number of spam subscriptions on its platform, which means many channels may see a significant drop in their subscriber count in the next few days. Read more...

Google decides to pull plug on Android Nearby Notifications due to spam

Boyd Chan — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:34:01 +0000

After noticing a trend in spammy Android notifications earlier in 2018, Google has announced that it will drop support for Nearby Notifications from its mobile OS before the end of the year. Read more...

Twitter acquires Smyte to curb abusive behavior on its platform

Jay Bonggolto — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:02:02 +0000

Twitter's acquisition of the San Francisco-based technology company is intended to address challenges in safety, spam, and security on the platform using Smyte's review tools and processes. Read more...

Facebook reveals how much content it has removed from its platform since October

Paul Hill — Tue, 15 May 2018 19:56:02 +0000

Facebook has published a new report which details how much content it has removed that is in violation of its community standards. The report was published to help the firm build user's trust. Read more...

Facebook announces crackdown on ‘engagement bait'

Paul Hill — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 12:12:01 +0000

Facebook is going to start cracking down on what it called engagement bait over the coming weeks. The company claims that people don't like the posts and consider them to be spammy. Read more...

Oops! YouTube blocks an official Chromebook ad as spam

John Keefer — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 19:50:01 +0000

The YouTube algorithm that automatically flags videos as problematic has struck again, this time blocking an ad from parent Google for its Chromebook. The issue was fixed, but not without screenshots. Read more...

Apple will help India's telecom regulator build an anti-spam app

Vishal Laul — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 14:52:01 +0000

Apple will reportedly help the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India develop an anti-spam app for iOS. The regulator has been criticizing Apple for locking its access to call logs and text messages. Read more...

New spam campaign distributes two ransomware variants

Justin Luna — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 15:46:01 +0000

Trend Micro has discovered a new campaign that distributes two variants of ransomware which can alternate. This allows re-encryption even after a victim has already paid up from the first infection. Read more...

Facebook plagued by as many as 100 million fake "likes"

Gabriel Nunes — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 23:56:01 +0000

Scientists have found that about one million Facebook accounts are enrolled in "collusion networks" run by spammers, which generated as many as 100 million fake "likes" between 2015 and 2016. Read more...

Locky ransomware distributed to millions in new spam campaign

Justin Luna — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 08:52:01 +0000

Security firm AppRiver has recently discovered a spike in the email distribution of the infamous Locky ransomware, sending it out to as much as 23 million people in just over 24 hours. Read more...

India's telecom regulator accuses Apple of ‘colonizing data'

Vishal Laul — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 20:06:01 +0000

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has accused Apple of "data colonization" as the company restricts its users from sharing call logs and text messages with the regulator's apps to combat spam. Read more...

Microsoft is aware of the spam epidemic plaguing Xbox Live users

Dreyer Smit — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 10:14:01 +0000

If you've opened an email account once in your lifetime, you're most likely all too familiar with the spam that comes with being connected to the web. The latest to be targeted are Xbox Live users. Read more...

Massive botnet consisting of 90,000 fake Twitter profiles generated 30 million spam clicks

Faisal Ahmed — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 20:44:01 +0000

Social networking sites have been a target of malicious botnet attacks for a while now. A recent such attack, called SIREN, has stormed Twitter by injecting malicious content in tweets and bios. Read more...

Google launches new Gmail security measures to fight spam and phishing

Justin Luna — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 14:32:02 +0000

Google has introduced improvements to its spam filters in Gmail. It will now take time to analyze emails that are suspected to be phishing users. It will also warn Android users of sketchy websites. Read more...

AT&T launches spam filter for smartphones at network level with AT&T Call Protect

Steven Parker — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 08:42:01 +0000

The cell provider has launched its own take on the Do Not Call register, blocking spam-like and fraudulent calls before they even reach your phone, you'll have to activate the free service though. Read more...