Abstract: Short message service (SMS) messages are sent by a sender (501) to a recipient (502) over a communications network (503). An SMS message is received (401) from the sender. An automatic verification request is sent (402) to the sender requesting a verification response, with the verification request being sent before the SMS message is delivered to the recipient. The verification response is received (403) from the sender; and the SMS message is delivered (404) to the recipient upon receiving the verification response. A system for delivering the SMS messages includes receiving means (504) for receiving the SMS message from the sender, transmission means (505) for sending an automatic verification request to the sender requesting a verification response, receiving means (506) for receiving the verification response from the sender, and delivering means (507) for delivering SMS message to the recipient upon receiving the verification response.