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They have now verified that your specific phone number will click clearly suspicious links. I would hazard that your going to be put into the phase 2 sucker cat

They have now verified that your specific phone number will click clearly suspicious links. I would hazard that your going to be put into the phase 2 sucker category now as a result. Why are the links so clearly suspicious you ask? It is part of the scam. It weeds out those who are unlikely to be scammed early in the pipeline so that scammers don't waste resources on people who will not be duped. Why redirect to google? They already have everything they need from you including a hash that points back to your phone number indicating what one of their various scams they got you to bite on. There is no longer any reason for them to keep your focus on their data collection site and immediately send you someplace benign. Google seems as good a choice as any.

frompdx 6y ago
If this is true, what can anyone really do about this type of text message spam? Blocking the numbers the messages is no good since each message comes from a separate number. I would hazard that your going to be put into the phase 2 sucker category now as a result. What happens in phase 2? A more targeted attack? Something intended to short circuit someone's ability to think rationally? For example, instead of something mundane like loose 20 pounds! It will be something like You must follow this link and log into your account in 24 hours or you will not be able to access it again. Edit: I suppose one option to stop seeing spam text messages is to whitelist. If you are using iOS this can be done through do not disturb settings and screen time settings.
- lelanthran 6y ago
  > If this is true, what can anyone really do about this type of text message spam? Reply to it all. If everyone took 2m a day to string along spammers we wouldn't have any spam (or scams). The reason spam/scams work is because only people gullible enough to get scammed respond, so the sender of the spam (and scam) can send out 5m emails, knowing that if only 5 come back, those 5 are good or money. If everyone responds, then each scammer/spammer will get 5m responses, and they wouldn't be able to pick out the 5 that will give them money.
  - frompdx 6y ago
    Now this is an interesting take. I could be misremembering which documentary I saw this in, but if my recollection is correct, the documentary Maxed Out proposed that if everyone returned credit applications sent by mail to sender, the economics of credit applications would be much less feasible because they would pay the return rates. This was in 2006. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxed_Out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxed_Out

frompdx 6y ago

If this is true, what can anyone really do about this type of text message spam? Blocking the numbers the messages is no good since each message comes from a separate number. I would hazard that your going to be put into the phase 2 sucker category now as a result. What happens in phase 2? A more targeted attack? Something intended to short circuit someone's ability to think rationally? For example, instead of something mundane like loose 20 pounds! It will be something like You must follow this link and log into your account in 24 hours or you will not be able to access it again. Edit: I suppose one option to stop seeing spam text messages is to whitelist. If you are using iOS this can be done through do not disturb settings and screen time settings.

lelanthran 6y ago
> If this is true, what can anyone really do about this type of text message spam? Reply to it all. If everyone took 2m a day to string along spammers we wouldn't have any spam (or scams). The reason spam/scams work is because only people gullible enough to get scammed respond, so the sender of the spam (and scam) can send out 5m emails, knowing that if only 5 come back, those 5 are good or money. If everyone responds, then each scammer/spammer will get 5m responses, and they wouldn't be able to pick out the 5 that will give them money.
- frompdx 6y ago
  Now this is an interesting take. I could be misremembering which documentary I saw this in, but if my recollection is correct, the documentary Maxed Out proposed that if everyone returned credit applications sent by mail to sender, the economics of credit applications would be much less feasible because they would pay the return rates. This was in 2006. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxed_Out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxed_Out