# Wife's burner phone is the target of a phisherman. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349 "2017-01-05T00:01:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/1 "2017-01-05T00:01:14Z")
She just got five identical texts in quick succesion: From: New Message Subject: ( No Subject ) To download, press Get This ain’t my first ro-day-oh, so I assume that, were I to press Get, what I would Get is an endless stream of texts advertising boner pills and dog and pony porn. Each at 30 seconds of my hard-earned minutes. I would block the number, but I can’t with this POS, and the number doesn’t come up. Thing 2 wants to give her her much more capable Android phone, but needs the money to replace her own. Wife is loathe to give up her number, but that’s what’s getting called. So, should I just toss the mofo, or should I press Get and see what happens? Please note that my inclination is the latter. Phone: LG 441G Service: Tracfone pay as you go. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/2 "2017-01-05T00:05:48Z")
I’m lost here. Your wife has a burner phone. She is receiving unsolicited texts? Ignore the texts, delete them and move on. Is that what you are asking? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/3 "2017-01-05T00:12:59Z")
No, I want to stop them. Those five texts, one a minute, ate 2.5 minutes of talk time, and this went on every few hours for unknown days before Thing 1 said, “Daddy, fix this.” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/4 "2017-01-05T00:19:28Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > I’m lost here. > > Your wife has a burner phone. She is receiving unsolicited texts? Ignore the texts, delete them and move on. Is that what you are asking? As a fellow owner of a burner phone I concur with the goals but do not know if there is a way to achieve them. You pay by the text. Typically text spammers use a multitude of different origination numbers so it’s difficult to block them all, but I don’t see anything wrong with a goal of not spending money you don’t have to for spam. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/5 "2017-01-05T00:37:39Z")
Called CS. They are supposed to be blocked now. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/6 "2017-01-08T13:29:47Z")
Feel free to dispel my ignorance, but I thought a burner phone was a phone you were treating as temporary and disposable. So if there are problems with it, you burn it. (Metaphorically speaking, that is.) So have ‘burners’ moved up in the world, or what? ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/7 "2017-01-08T15:15:44Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > No, I want to stop them. Those five texts, one a minute, ate 2.5 minutes of talk time, and this went on every few hours for unknown days before Thing 1 said, “Daddy, fix this.” What kind of setup makes you pay for receiving texts? ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/8 "2017-01-08T15:53:07Z")
> [@Grim\_Render](#): > > What kind of setup makes you pay for receiving texts? It never fails to amaze me how so many Dopers are so utterly out of touch with the way that a large percentage of the population lives. Paying for all texts, both outgoing and incoming, is a very common feature of pre-paid phones. I too am on such a plan. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/9 "2017-01-08T16:02:52Z")
_Some_ pre-paid plans. There are unlimited pre-paid plans, too. Not all plans are equal. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/10 "2017-01-08T16:10:57Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Feel free to dispel my ignorance, but I thought a burner phone was a phone you were treating as temporary and disposable. So if there are problems with it, you burn it. (Metaphorically speaking, that is.) > > So have ‘burners’ moved up in the world, or what? No, you are correct. I assume that his wife is a streetcorner cocaine dealer, mafia enforcer, or member of a kidnapping ring. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/11 "2017-01-08T16:22:05Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Feel free to dispel my ignorance, but I thought a burner phone was a phone you were treating as temporary and disposable. So if there are problems with it, you burn it. (Metaphorically speaking, that is.) > > So have ‘burners’ moved up in the world, or what? Yeah; if your wife is receiving unwanted texts on her burner phone, shouldn’t she drop it in the nearest trash bin and then stride briskly away, or possibly hurl it out the window of the car you’re currently driving the wrong on the Autobahn in? Then, you pry up the floorboards at the safe house and get a new pair of passports. (“Okay, honey, you’re now Olga Kuznetsova, born 6 September 1993 in Vladivostok…”) _Extreme ways are back again Extreme places I didn’t know…_ ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/12 "2017-01-08T18:05:13Z")
Maybe I’m living with blinders on here, but doesn’t the term “burner phone” imply also the ownership of a clean, legitimate “non-burner” phone? The burner phone you use for illicit or clandestine purposes, while the clean phone is what you use for regular personal stuff? So, to me the question is "Why do you (or your wife) have a burner phone? _Sent from my clean phone, cause that’s all I have_ ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/13 "2017-01-08T18:06:42Z")
Tracfone doesn’t charge for texts you don’t open. You can usually see a preview of the text in your inbox without opening it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/14 "2017-01-08T18:58:55Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > It never fails to amaze me how so many Dopers are so utterly out of touch with the way that a large percentage of the population lives. > > Paying for all texts, both outgoing and incoming, is a very common feature of pre-paid phones. I too am on such a plan. > [@cochrane](#): > > _Some_ pre-paid plans. There are unlimited pre-paid plans, too. Not all plans are equal. Yep. I have a $20/mo Virgin Mobile flip phone at 400 min/mo with no charge (AFAIK) for incoming texts. Sending texts, though, is another $10/mo and unlimited is another $10 over that. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/15 "2017-01-08T19:02:17Z")
Some people think “pay-as-you-go” cell phone service that uses a cheap phone is the same as a “burner” phone. The situation shares the same service and equipment as an international assassin might use, but the intent is totally different. The assassin wants to be able to trash the phone at the drop of a hat. Old people want to pinch pennies. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/16 "2017-01-08T19:14:18Z")
Now I am imagining Jason Bourne using a Jitterbug… ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/17 "2017-01-08T20:49:40Z")
Such a phisherman is beneath contempt, but charity insists we don’t condemn too severely until we have walked in his shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Thomas\_Didymas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9f8e36/32.png) [@Thomas\_Didymas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thomas_Didymas)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/18 "2018-09-18T15:32:30Z")
I’d like to bump this topic, because I have the same issue. Somehow my number got leaked out and I am receiving dozens of these spam messages daily. The responses I see in this thread are mostly sarcasm. I hope this isn’t typical of straight dope, as I am new here. I’d like an honest answer to how to stop these spam messages, if there is one. So far by the responses, it seems unknown. I have an LG 440G phone. The question is, how do I block these spam messages? Thanks to whoever has the answer. TD:) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/19 "2018-09-18T16:40:39Z")
**Thomas Didymas** , welcome to the Dope! It appears that you’ve lurked & learned some of our terms before making your first post. This fact alone makes me hope you stick around after you get your problem resolved. Are the spam messages coming from one number or different ones or even an email address (as spammers are known to do)? If one number, can you block it on your phone? If not, contact your provider’s customer service dept to see what options they have to block. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349/20 "2018-09-18T16:49:05Z")
Yes, it was hard to spot above, but the problem was originally solved by contacting customer service. As **Spiderman** suggests, start there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifes-burner-phone-is-the-target-of-a-phisherman/776349.md?page=2)