News 12 at 6 o'clock, July 10, 2009

AUGUSTA---Unless you've got an unlimited text messaging plan, you're paying 5, 10 maybe even 20 cents per text message that comes your way. That may be fine if they're coming from friends and family, but if they're coming from a spammer, that can make your blood boil.

Apparently, the spammers send their messages out by sitting at a computer with a software program that basically tries to guess your number and the numbers of millions of other cell phone users.

The program just picks a slew of numbers and emails out the messages. So how do you stop them?

Because they're sent out via e-mail over the internet, most carriers have an option to block them.

Here's what you need to know:

For AT&T customers, go to my http://messages.wireless.att.com. Look for preferences and select the text-blocking option.

For Verizon, go to http://vtext.com. Click on preferences and then look for the spam blocker link.

T-Mobile doesn't offer a block text messages from the internet option. But you can block all messages sent by e-mail. Here's a link with more information: http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm23533.xml

Sprint doesn't have an auto-block, but you can block specific phone numbers and email addresses. Here is a link with instructions: http://support.sprint.com/sprinthelp/help/help82.html