TextNow and Enea are teaming up to lead the fight against the growing threat of spam, scams, and harmful content delivered via text messaging. As SMS spam levels surge across North America, TextNow is strengthening its commitment to user safety by implementing Enea’s Adaptive Messaging Firewall and Threat Intelligence Services.

The Federal Trade Commission reports a 60% year-over-year increase in fraudulent text complaints since the start of 2024, making SMS the second most exploited fraud channel after email. Behind the increase is a general surge in spam, but some types of unwanted text messages stand out: Enea’s threat intelligence unit has identified a sharp rise in “cold opener” conversational spam over the past year. These deceptive messages typically begin as wrong-number texts but are designed to lure recipients into ongoing conversations that ultimately lead to phishing or other fraud attempts. Due to their unassuming nature, threats like these require special expertise to detect and mitigate.

Utilizing Enea’s Adaptive Messaging Firewall and expert Threat Intelligence Service helps TextNow significantly strengthen the capabilities of its trust and safety team. This partnership allows TextNow to rapidly detect and block ever evolving fraud campaigns.

“Trust and safety are an important part of TextNow’s mission to make free phone service available to everyone,” said Jon Halk, Head of Design and Customer Journey at TextNow.

“Partnering with Enea allows us to make progress in our efforts against increasingly sophisticated threats and work towards keeping those users who rely on our service as safe as possible. ”

“TextNow’s dedication to user security is commendable and sets a strong example in the industry,” said John Hughes, SVP, Head of Network Security Business Group at Enea. “Our Adaptive Messaging Firewall equips TextNow with the tools and insights needed to ensure a safe and trusted messaging experience for all their phone users.”

About Enea

We are a world-leading specialist in advanced telecom and cybersecurity software with a vision to make the world's communications safer and more efficient. Our solutions connect, optimize, and protect communications between companies, people, devices, and things worldwide. We are present in over 90 markets and billions of people rely on our technology every day when they connect to mobile networks or use the Internet. Enea is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. Visit us at enea.com

About TextNow

TextNow is on a mission to make phone service free, easy, and accessible to all as the original mobile provider to offer unlimited calling and texting, and free essential data on the network where connection changes everything. Founded in 2009, TextNow is the largest provider of free mobile phone service in the U.S., supported by advertising. We have offices in San Francisco and Waterloo, Ontario, and our app has been downloaded more than 300 million times globally. Our phone service helps millions of people connect freely every month.

Contact Enea

Claire Murphy
Claire.murphy@enea.com

Contact TextNow

Tali Fischer
Tali.fischer@textnow.com