The ‘big four’ US operators, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile – plus Canada’s Bell Mobility – have rolled out the GSMA’s Spam Reporting Service (SRS), allowing them to share intelligence and protect subscribers against spam and fraudulent messaging.

The SRS, which is powered by technology from Cloudmark, claims to provide participating operators with live, online reports that flag attacks in progress.

The service works by enabling end users to report spam or potentially harmful messages back to the operator via a short code ‘7726’, which corresponds to the word ‘SPAM’ on most phones. For Android smartphones users, the service is available as an app.

The move by the North American operators to adopt the service is seen as a pre-emptive strike by the carriers against the problem, as the region already has one of the lowest incidences of mobile spam in the world.

“By having major mobile operators in North America actively participating in the service, spammers and fraudsters will find this region an even more difficult target for their malicious activity,” said GSMA CMO Michael O’Hara.

"Mobile security threats such as spam, virus and phishing are becoming more critical as businesses and consumers increasingly access sensitive information via smartphones," added AT&T’s chief security officer, Ed Amoroso.