# Text wrong number scam? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687 "2023-03-26T20:46:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/1 "2023-03-26T20:46:20Z")
So I get a text “Busy?” I ask “Who?” and I get “Isn’t this Anna?” and it doesn’t stop there. She wants to apologize for bothering me, then she tells what a polite person I am, and where do I live etc. It’s a slow day, so I keep sending her one or two-word answers, and she doesn’t take the hint that pursuing this will lead nowhere. I guess my question is “What sort of a scam is this, and what do I need to watch out for?” Is this a lonely person I need to feel sorry for, which I doubt, or someone trying to play me? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/2 "2023-03-26T20:51:28Z")
Establishing contact, getting you interested, any number of scams can be the end goal. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/3 "2023-03-26T20:53:03Z")
Sounds like it’ll be catfishing of some sort (I mean, that or just a loquacious wrong number caller, but I would err on the side of caution) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/4 "2023-03-26T20:53:49Z")
Try replying ‘Alaye’ ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/5 "2023-03-26T21:18:58Z")
“She” just texted me “Can you tell me my name?” and I texted back “Your name is Amy.” What does this signify? Non-native speaker? Inattentive person pulling off nine scams at once? Stupid person? If the latter, then I’m being mean by playing her, right? So maybe I should just stop and find something productive to do with my time? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/6 "2023-03-26T21:21:54Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > “She” just texted me “Can you tell me my name?” and I texted back “Your name is Amy.” > > What does this signify? Non-native speaker? Inattentive person pulling off nine scams at once? Stupid person? **If the latter, then I’m being mean by playing her, right?** So maybe I should just stop and find something productive to do with my time? - That’s not a wrong number, that’s a scammer 100%. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/7 "2023-03-26T21:22:53Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > So maybe I should just stop and find something productive to do with my time? Yes. Why the fuck do people waste their time with this shit? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/8 "2023-03-26T21:27:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@slicedalone](#): > > > > So maybe I should just stop and find something productive to do with my time? > > Yes. Why the fuck do people waste their time with this shit? - To fuck with scammers and waste their time. Maybe distract them from potential victims. Though I wouldn’t use my actual phone number because of possible retaliation. A burner phone or Google Voice number would solve that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/9 "2023-03-26T21:31:46Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > To fuck with scammers and waste their time. Y’all give a shit more than I do, clearly. If that’s your thing, go for it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/10 "2023-03-26T21:34:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@running\_coach](#): > > > > To fuck with scammers and waste their time. > > Y’all give a shit more than I do, clearly. If that’s your thing, go for it. - I have the time for it (and its fun) though I do email, even with a Google Voice number, I don’t like texting and I don’t want texts in the middle of the night. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/11 "2023-03-26T22:42:30Z")
I think whenever I have to ask “Is this a scam?” I can be confident the answer is Yes. Seems like an awful lot of trouble on “her” part, though, to persist through all my non-communicative answers (“Yes” “OK” “Sure”) to her many questions. Almost all of my answers were provided by my cel phone, so I just had to click once to give it, followed by a long question, or revelation, on “her” part. It really felt like I was playing “her,” stringing her along with this shit and obviously very leery of giving “her” any useful information, like my name or the city I live in. Just to establish a personal relationship,“she” had to waste several texts pretending to be trying to contact someone else, thanking me profusely for my politeness in telling “her” that “she” had misdialed, etc. Seems very inefficient as a scam, but what do I know? I’m not a scammer. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/12 "2023-03-26T23:03:35Z")
I would not think ‘scam’ in as much ‘trap’ - keep stringing ‘her’ along long enough, there will be pictures requested and or sent - if sent, then they have you with potential blackmail goods (i’;ll go to the cops/SO, etc unless you pay me). ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/13 "2023-03-27T00:29:00Z")
It’s been a year or two since I’ve seen the wrong number scam, but yes, that basically sums it up. They’ll ask for something. It could be joining an MLM, invest in crypto or any other similar scam. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/14 "2023-03-27T06:15:47Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > It’s been a year or two since I’ve seen the wrong number scam, but yes, that basically sums it up. So this is an established thing? Good to know I’ not just yanking some poor dimwitted woman’s chain around. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/15 "2023-03-27T11:48:03Z")
The other day, I received a text that said “Hi, I’m going to Miami for vacation in mid-May, are you still there?” Now this is plausibly real, since I live an hour from Miami. The text was from area code 909, which is California, and I have friends there. However - I can’t think of a single friend that I wouldn’t have the number for AND wouldn’t use my name in their initial text. I didn’t reply, and they haven’t tried again. When it happened, I did some searching, and found a few articles about the general idea. Basically, it’s engagement to try to draw you into…something. A sale of some sort, typically, although I could imagine a malware pushing scheme via a link. Here’s one of the cites I found, from 2022: > **[No, that random text to the wrong number isn't a mistake. Here's what the...](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/wrong-number-text-scam-rcna39793)** > > The scams — in which con artists send out huge batches of eye-grabbing but innocuous texts — have become the introduction du jour for scammers looking for people to bilk for money. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/16 "2023-03-27T11:57:59Z")
My guess is catfishing. A few times, I would say, “I think I remember you from the party, can you send me a picture” and it has been the same attractive Asian woman picture that shows up, probably taken from the web somewhere. One time, I grabbed a picture from a previous text and said, Oh my god, we look so much alike! We should get together, and then that was the end of that chat. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/17 "2023-03-27T12:11:59Z")
Funny… do you suppose if i sent a really rude message that no same woman would be unoffended by that i would get a friendly reply to? EG, "send pix? I’ve had bad experiences with really ugly women on the internet " ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/18 "2023-03-27T12:14:51Z")
I tried a “hey, I’d like to get to know you better, can you send more personal pics” once. I think they gave up soon after that. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/19 "2023-03-27T12:36:29Z")
I get a fair number of those “wrong number” texts. I just ignore them, instead of baiting them (though that can be fun), because that is the quickest way to make them give up and go away. They are scammers, and they want _something_ from you. I do appreciate, and watch, clever scam-baiters, like [Kitboga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitboga_(streamer)). They are quite entertaining, and they waste the time (and sometimes shut down) of scammers who prey on the naivety of innocents (mainly the elderly). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Egrg6_2DHwY/maxresdefault.jpg "This $80,000 Scam Backfired After 15 Hours (they're furious)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egrg6_2DHwY) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687/20 "2023-03-27T12:40:48Z")
I have a friend in cyber security, and he says you should never respond to those things even if it is only to entertain yourself in jest. Just responding will get you on more selective lists that will yield even more phishing attempts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/text-wrong-number-scam/981687.md?page=2)