Current efforts to prevent SMS spam

On December 12, 2019 Google introduced a new feature for Android Messages. This is called Google Verified SMS and is the equivalent to the sender verification function in RCS. Verification works by a company including a code in the SMS. This code is checked in the background by Google. If this match is successful, the sender is verified. The company icon and the name are displayed with the shield icon as sender. Otherwise, a warning will be displayed that it may be a fake SMS. This feature is currently available in the United States, India, Mexico, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, and the Philippines, but more countries will follow soon.
A second feature, also integrated by Google into messages, is real-time monitoring to prevent spam SMS. If an SMS comes from a sender who is not in your contact list, a warning is displayed. This feature also includes a feedback function, you can tell Google if you really think the SMS is spam or not. Here privacy concerns need to be addressed. Google itself says that no SMS are read for this function. Also the numbers of the senders are stored only temporarily. Both functions can be deactivated in the settings.