They may include some of this information in their text to appear more legitimate. Scammers may have access to your name, address, where you bank, your phone provider and other details about your life. Thanks to data breaches and online directories at least some of your personal information is probably online. Know that a personalized message doesn’t make the sender trustworthy.If you engage with a scammer, even briefly, they will mark your number as active, and you could receive even more shady texts in the future. If you receive a text from someone you don’t know, simply don’t reply. Question motives behind both solicited and unsolicited messages. Ignore texts from strangers. Strangers on the internet can pretend to be anyone.Taylor Hawkins: Fans, friends mourn Foo Fighters drummer after ‘tragic and untimely’ death at 50 “It’s a different approach than most scammers take, and I didn’t think anything too seriously until more of my friends started to say that they also received it… It’s obvious that the scammers are trying to elicit a response, such as sympathy, to this woman for receiving a fake number from a friend, but we need to remind consumers that appearances can be deceiving.” “I did a double-take,” says Pam Anson, Director of Brand Outreach for BBB Serving Greater Cleveland. Considering the dubious nature of this scam, if you hand over your credit card information at any point, you could be putting yourself at risk for fraudulent charges and identity theft.Įven BBB staff has received these texts. Your new “friend” will encourage you to sign up for a specific website to see more explicit photos, which may involve offering up your credit card number. If you continue to engage with the stranger, who is really a chat bot, it tries to trick you into registering for dating or adult websites. However, as the word gets out about this scam, scammers will change up the names, backstory, and photos. Usually, you’ll receive a few compliments and some photos of “Amanda,” who appears to be a scantily clad blonde woman. If you reply to a text like this, even with a polite, “Sorry, wrong number,” the stranger responds anyway, seemingly ignoring your answer. I’m back in town if you want to meet up this time, are you free?” We chatted on Tinder before when I came to visit my cousin, but we never met girl. You receive a text that reads something like this: “Hey is this John? It’s Amanda. UAH, Operation Green Team partner for big event