SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Whether people surf the Internet or play music on their cell phones, the devices are rapidly acquiring the attributes of computers.

The downside to a powerful cell phone is that people can get spammed via text messages.

VIDEO: Text Message Spam On The Rise

Cell phone owner Todd Thiemann showed NBC11 the stock sales pitches he has received in the form of text messages recently on his smart phone.

"The iPhone and those smart phones (are becoming) more PC-like, desktop like," said Jamz Yaneza of Trend Micro, a company that tries to prevent spam.

More than 1 billion spam text messages were sent in the past year, NBC11's Scott Budman reported.

Nokia, Palm, Apple and almost every other cell phone maker build cell phone models that are capable of displaying spam text messages, Budman reported.

Trend Micro, along with other Silicon Valley Security companies like McAfee, are fighting back against cell phone spam with software similar to that which is used to protect desktop and laptop computers.

There is a key difference, however. Unlike spam that arrives on larger computers, people must pay for the spam they receive on their cell phones.

"It's like you've been surfing on your phone -- that's how you've got to pay for it," said Yaneza. "For some people, if it's in your plan -- unlimited -- you're free. If it's pay as you go, that's going to be pretty expensive."

There are several things people can do to fight cell phone spam.

People should contact their carrier and ask for a refund. Because text message spam is illegal, the carrier will in many cases credit people's accounts.

People also can download the newest software made to target the newest spam.

People should be aware, however, spam evolves -- just as the software to fight it does.

Trend Micro offers its security software through this link.