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What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

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Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#201

Post by ska »

jameshart wrote: post #117
muststopmyths wrote: post #98

Earlier 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.

Nobody dials their friends numbers anymore.

Calling a business though? A colleague had a problem where their number was 1 digit off from some delivery number (maybe pizza?) and got calls all the time.

Someone else erroneously has their number (different area code) in the google info for another business, same problem and took a while to fix.

Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#202

Post by brewdad »

londons_explore wrote: post #153
tornato7 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some years ago I was selling an expensive aquarium on Craigslist, a scammer ‘paid’ me with a fake PayPal payment before asking to come pick it up. So I convinced him that I was the manager of a Red Lobster restaurant and it was an old lobster tank that we were selling. I told him to show up during business hours and tell the manager he’s there to pick up the lobster tank. The next day I got some ‘on my way’ texts and…

Actual scammers tend to not pick up the actual goods. It's hard to turn a profit by reselling an expensive aquarium tank that's probably pretty unique and they don't come up for sale frequently. I suspect you fleeced a real buyer

A real buyer would have made a real payment.

Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#203

Post by noveltyaccount »

usmannk wrote: post #178
noveltyaccount wrote: post #131

Related. 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…

They were not trying to steal your number. They were using your number to back a new google voice account, so that they could get another free number from google. It’s a common scam, used on facebook marketplace sellers as well, and actually works best if the victim has never used google voice before.

That's a fair clarification, I figured they were trying to move my number to Google voice, but now that you mention it I think that would require more paperwork.

I did cross-post to Facebook Marketplace :)

Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#204

Post by nobody9999 »

hackernewds wrote: post #193
nobody9999 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I did this with some 419 scammers, and led them on a merry chase. I documented it in a private web forum, which entertained my friends for weeks. It's a bit dated now, but 419eater[0] is a public forum that did the same. If you enjoyed your own, I expect you'll like this too. I did the same a few times myself, but got bored after a while. I never did get anyone to send a photo of themselves with underwear on their h…

Possible they're the same story?

>Possible they're the same story?

Sure it's possible. Although GP said[0] it was a private forum.

419eater.com is, and has been for many years, an open forum.

Perhaps GP could clarify?

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31952752

Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#205

Post by jvanderbot »

noveltyaccount wrote: post #131

Related. 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…

my wife had the same thing happen. when she said no, the sender cussed her out a bunch. after TFA I can see why he may have been desperate and venting.

Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#206

Post by Jailbird »

noveltyaccount wrote: post #131

Related. 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…

"How about you send a 13-digit number instead"?

Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#207

Post by kristopolous »

LtWorf wrote: post #167
lupire wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern spam filters are almost entirely based on sender, not content.

And you just need to pay amazon to send your spam for you to circumvent all the filters… what a world to live in.

That's fine, the point is to assign a cost and a liability paper trail to people who send, say, 100,000 emails.

It doesn't affect the average user and it presents very nominal hoops for the high volume user to step through while erecting substantial barriers to criminals.

That's kinda the best you can do

Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#208

Post by microtherion »

the victim deposited the money into a fake crypto platform that told him his investments were performing well, presumably to entice him to deposit even more. Of course, once he tried to withdraw the money, he found he was unable to.

And how exactly does this differ from a REAL crypto platform?

Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#209

Post by optimalsolver »

microtherion wrote: post #208

the victim deposited the money into a fake crypto platform that told him his investments were performing well, presumably to entice him to deposit even more. Of course, once he tried to withdraw the money, he found he was unable to. And how exactly does this differ from a REAL crypto platform?

Yup, just ask the customers of Celsius and Voyager.

Re: What's the deal with all those weird wrong-number texts?

#210

Post by wolfgang42 »

muststopmyths wrote: post #97

I 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

It’s like that bit from The Great Gatsby:

> “What part of the Middle West?”

> “San Francisco.”

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