I edited the famous Goatse photo and added a raccoon peeking it's head out. I send that to scammers
What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
181–190 of 326 posts
Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
#182Thank you!
I've been wondering what the scam was. I've gotten 3 of these so far. I've received actual wrong number texts in the past, so I want to let the person know they got the wrong number and aren't getting ghosted by their friend. But they just keep texting back, which is really weird.
With the first one I didn't know what was going on the person said they just moved to the country, which is plausible, so I didn't want to be a jerk, but when she asked for my name I stopped replying. When the 2nd one came with with the same pattern it was clear there was some kind of scam going on, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it could be, as they weren't asking for anything.
Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
#183I got one of these, almost convincing enough except she said she lived in SF. I asked where in SF and she said Alcatraz. I almost wanted to keep the conversation going just to hear more about her life on the island
That was just a metaphor. She feels trapped by her life and you're her only way to freedom.
Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've gotten a few in the last couple months, with a US cellular number that I've had for over 20 years. At least two are "I missed you at the gym today!" via text and another was from a Vermont area code via WhatsApp to a "Dr. Jack": > Hi Dr. Jack! My cat is very slow and does not eat cat food. Can you make an appointment for me? > Sorry, you have the wrong number > Sorry, I just checked, I entered a wrong number, pl…
Oh wow. I got EXACTLY the same message, only with a sick dog and an asian woman in a car. I did the exact some response you did too. So weird.
A bit over a year ago, I received over SMS a photo of a young woman using her mouth to lift up her shirt and reveal her bra. Her face above the very bottom of her nose is not visible.
This was followed by the text "hi, is this Grèg frm Sañta Barbara?.? It is Jennifer."
Clearly some sort of scam is afoot, but I don't know what it is. And virtually no effort has been made to be at all convincing, given the diacritics.
Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
#185Thank you! I've been wondering what the scam was. I've gotten 3 of these so far. I've received actual wrong number texts in the past, so I want to let the person know they got the wrong number and aren't getting ghosted by their friend. But they just keep texting back, which is really weird. With the first one I didn't know what was going on the person said they just moved to the country, which is plausible, so I did…
This sounds to me like a relationship long con.
A lot of people are isolated and lonely, not just the elderly. The scammer tries to create a spontaneous meet that seems genuine. If you engage then it’s about quickly developing a relationship and then if that works, asking for money.
I wonder how much of this can be automated these days. This sort of scam usually requires a lot of effort and is more targeted. Since many are claiming ti be targeted now it could be a sign that scammers have been able to automate it with some basic scripts or even AI so it can scale.
Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with this. For what it's worth my solution which may not work for others is to set the default ring/text tone to "None" and then add custom ring/text tones in my address book on my little throw away flip phone. It works great for me personally. I never get distracted by bots and just mass delete their messages without even looking at them when I get around to it. This method probably will not work for people…
An android solution is to only ring/notify the phone for people in your contacts. It's easier than giving individuals a ring tone as unknowns get the silent treatment by default. Basically just whitelist instead of blacklist.
Same is available on iOS. Used it for a while and it works well.
Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
I guess some of us are old enough that wrong numbers were a thing and it was just polite to let them know. Especially when it sounds legit
Wrong numbers generally used to be caused by misdialing. Nobody dials numbers any more.
Generally, you are correct. However I had an interesting experience in the 90's where someone's number was somehow linked to mine. So their friends kept calling, for the first few times I politely said that X wasn't here, they had the wrong number. However I had a call blocker on my line, and after two or three phone calls I'd just add the number to the call blocker.
I also had an answering machine, and eventually, I got a long diatribe from the irate person whose number had been linked to mine who was very upset about the situation. They explained the phone company had accidently linked the numbers somehow. They were very upset because their friends couldn't reach them and because I had been call blocking them.
So, I listened to the message, thought a moment and then added them to my call block list.
Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
#188Related. I listed something for sale on Craigslist recently and got a bunch of messages right away that asked obvious questions that were in the listing. One suggested that his wife pick it up, and can I take Zelle? Went silent when I said cash only. But the most interesting scammer said: "for my safety, can I send you a 6-digit number, and you confirm it, so I know the listing is not fake?" I say yes, unsure what th…
I've got both those scams. The Zelle person sent me a fake email claiming to be from my bank and that to verify I needed to send them money so they could send me money, right...
Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
#189What I find mildly interesting is that different people get a different mix of scams. I only get "extended warrantee" scams. I've never seen these "wrong number" texts.
Other people get a completely different mix. I wonder how these get determined.
Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?
#190For a while I grew quite fond of wasting phone scammers time. I’d pick up, talk suuuuuuper slowly— like Emo Phillips speed at one syllable every one or two seconds— interrupt with irrelevant questions or anecdotes, and overall just see how long I could keep them on the phone without giving them any information. The best strategy I found was telling them that, yes indeed I did remember owing the IRS or whoever money a…
In case you haven't seen it, someone automated this: https://jollyrogertelephone.com/
Blocked in Brazil for some reason.