Viber is a platform for communication. The program is open and secure, which allows anyone to create a group in it. Many official and unofficial companies operate on this platform. But spam and advertising are the main drawbacks of the program.

Spam is an advertising campaign that is sent to several thousand random people at the same time. It is usually very easy to recognize, for example: "Girls, I lost 7 kilograms by drinking a tincture of herbs and fruits. No chemicals, I'm very happy. You can buy it here". Unfortunately, Viber's blocking system is very weak, because the user's ID is their phone number. Therefore, nothing more than this is needed to report a "miracle weight loss cure".

How to deal with spam?

To avoid sending ads, you need to block unfamiliar numbers. When a number is blacklisted, it cannot send messages or make calls. How to do it?

Unknown number ban

When a new chat appears, two buttons "ADD" and "BLOCK" also appear on the screen. If you wish, you can screen the message and write to the technical support team.

Ban contacts

If the spammer is a friend from your contact list, go to the contact's menu and click on the three dots in the upper right corner. The magic button will appear "Block".

You can also ban a number manually. You need to go to Settings > options > privacy > blocked numbers list. Click on the plus sign above and enter the number manually or select it from the contact list.

Ban numbers from the group

 If the annoying contact is in the same group as you, you can also ban them. To do this, go to the group and slide the screen to the left. Select the contact and block them. You can also report a message in the group. In the upper right corner, select "complain about the message", then click on the message and "complaint".

The recipient will not know that they have been blocked. They can still send messages, but the recipient will not see them.

What does number blocking give you?

Once a contact is blacklisted, you cannot send them a message or call them. The blocked contact will continue to see the profile and network status. The blocked contact will keep all message and call history. 

And the most interesting thing! The blocked user can add you to the group and send you a message in the chat, which you will see.

How to unblock a contact

Sometimes there are situations when a person should be removed from the blacklist. How to do it:

• Go to the menu (right, bottom corner).
• Settings → Privacy.
• List of blocked numbers → Unblock.

But even after unlocking, you can't see the messages sent by this contact.

How Viber developers fight spam

The company has launched several tools that reduce the spread of spam. Now you can control who can add you to group chats. Go to Settings > Options > Privacy. Select the option "Control who can add you to groups". And choose : "Anyone" or "My contacts". There is also a function called "Automatic spam check".

The developers also added a separate folder where all requests from unfamiliar contacts will be stored.