Fewer than half of our texts now come from people we know

Fewer than half the texts UK adults receive now come from someone they know. New research from Uswitch looked at the last 20 texts people received. Only 49% were from a known person. The rest were mostly automated messages, marketing and suspected scams.

What changed

Verification codes made up 13% of texts, parcel updates 9%, appointment reminders 6%, marketing 5%, bank alerts 4% and suspected scams 4%. As a result, 80% of adults assume an unfamiliar number is spam or a scam. Only 6% think it could be a friend with a new number.

That caution has a cost. Uswitch says 24% of the UK public, about 13 million people, deleted or ignored a message from someone they know in the past year because they thought it was junk.

Jez Samuel, a Uswitch mobiles expert, says the text message has changed jobs. Most chat with friends has moved to WhatsApp. The inbox is now where banks, couriers and businesses get in touch, and where scammers pose as them.

What to do

• Be careful with any message that pushes you to act right away.
• Check official retail apps to confirm a message is real.
• In the UK, forward suspicious texts to 7726 for free.

Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, will require mobile networks to block scam texts by January 2027. The material does not say how many people were surveyed or how the blocking will work. The findings cover UK adults only.