25 ms·

Wow, how interesting. I started getting these a few months ago, right after starting a new job in a somewhat high-profile area. I have been getting 1-2 per mont

by avalys 4y ago

Wow, how interesting. I started getting these a few months ago, right after starting a new job in a somewhat high-profile area. I have been getting 1-2 per month but found them quite unusual because none of them ever progressed to an actual scam - just a few messages back and forth about the fabricated "wrong number" situation and then each thread would stop, seemingly earnestly. Since there was no obvious scam, I've been wondering what the motivation for these was, and actually started worrying about whether someone might be trying to compromise my phone via some yet-undisclosed SMS exploit - why else would there be a systematic effort to get me to spend time exchanging a few pointless messages around the "wrong number" pretext that otherwise went nowhere? I tried calling the senders by phone and found they were all Google Voice numbers, which eliminated the possibility that some actual rich guy had innocuously ended up with a number similar to mine. I asked a few friends and no one else was experiencing the same thing. Glad to hear it's not just me.

shostack 4y ago
If there's back and forth interaction I wonder if it is to aid improving their "legitimacy footprint" from metadata or something to avoid spam blockers.
- bequanna 4y ago
  This is a good guess and if true, pretty damn smart. Essentially reverse engineering the spam model by brute force. If they are doing this at scale they can experiment with # of conversations, length, and other variables to see what is needed to bypass spam blockers with high probability.
deepspace 4y ago
What would the motivation be for anyone to reply to a text from an unknown person? I have also been getting these for months, in it was 100% obvious from the get-go that it must be a scam. I have never felt the slightest urge to reply.
- assttoasstmgr 4y ago
  Maybe he or she wanted to keep it real? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3U55usfJK8&t=382s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3U55usfJK8&t=382s
- muststopmyths 4y ago
  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
  - techsupporter 4y ago
    Considering how almost every form of social trust has been abused to either spam or scam me, I am old enough to remember that but have also had that politeness completely scrubbed from me. I wish we still lived in a time when being scammed or spammed wasn't so prevalent, but we don't and I'm not doing anything that might tip off either of those groups that my number is ripe for the picking.
    - muststopmyths 4y ago
      Oh yeah, no judgement implied. It’s just a force of habit for me.
  - jameshart 4y ago
    Wrong numbers generally used to be caused by misdialing. Nobody dials numbers any more.
    - SapporoChris 4y ago
      Generally, you are correct. However I had an interesting experience in the 90's where someone's number was somehow linked to mine. So their friends kept calling, for the first few times I politely said that X wasn't here, they had the wrong number. However I had a call blocker on my line, and after two or three phone calls I'd just add the number to the call blocker. I also had an answering machine, and eventually, I got a long diatribe from the irate person whose number had been linked to mine who was very upset about the situation. They explained the phone company had accidently linked the numbers somehow. They were very upset because their friends couldn't reach them and because I had been call blocking them. So, I listened to the message, thought a moment and then added them to my call block list.
extheat 4y ago
I thought it was just me also. At first my assumption was "OK, I'm being redirected a bunch of texts from other numbers", as nobody else I asked had similar problems (and I wasn't really being scammed at all). Some of the scammers even sent pictures to make them seem more legitimate. On iOS, the green bubbles and just continual flow of similar texts eventually made it suspicions that I don't even reply wrong number anymore. I just delete and block.
cmg 4y ago
I've gotten a few in the last couple months, with a US cellular number that I've had for over 20 years. At least two are "I missed you at the gym today!" via text and another was from a Vermont area code via WhatsApp to a "Dr. Jack": > Hi Dr. Jack! My cat is very slow and does not eat cat food. Can you make an appointment for me? > Sorry, you have the wrong number > Sorry, I just checked, I entered a wrong number, please don't mind. hope I did not disturb you. > Best of luck with your cat! > thank you for understanding. You are a kind person. where do you come from. And then I just moved on with my day, because as nice as that sounded I wasn't looking for a conversation. The contact profile image is of a young, attractive Asian woman, I think at a restaurant. No reverse image results on Tineye or Google. [Edit: I’ve had this number for over 20 years (not “nearly 20”) and now I feel old.]
- forgetfulness 4y ago
  The pictures are always super blurry, clearly fabricated or heavily doctored. Often I've gotten the same portrait for several scam texts from different numbers.
  - KMag 4y ago
    To be fair, my wife says the same thing about the photos I take with my phone.
    - forgetfulness 4y ago
      Finding the right place to focus the camera is essential, to both focus on the plane you are looking for as to have it focused on a spot that will produce the desired brightness in the overall picture (how that works I don't know, just advice from an ex that went to photography school for some time)
- RajT88 4y ago
  I had almost the exact same exchange, with someone with a photo just like that! 747 area code, was it?
yrgulation 4y ago
Likely an exploit or simply a means to confirm the number is active. Getting those in the uk as well.

by avalys 4y ago

shostack 4y ago

If there's back and forth interaction I wonder if it is to aid improving their "legitimacy footprint" from metadata or something to avoid spam blockers.

bequanna 4y ago
This is a good guess and if true, pretty damn smart. Essentially reverse engineering the spam model by brute force. If they are doing this at scale they can experiment with # of conversations, length, and other variables to see what is needed to bypass spam blockers with high probability.

deepspace 4y ago

What would the motivation be for anyone to reply to a text from an unknown person? I have also been getting these for months, in it was 100% obvious from the get-go that it must be a scam. I have never felt the slightest urge to reply.

assttoasstmgr 4y ago
Maybe he or she wanted to keep it real? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3U55usfJK8&t=382s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3U55usfJK8&t=382s
muststopmyths 4y ago
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
- techsupporter 4y ago
  Considering how almost every form of social trust has been abused to either spam or scam me, I am old enough to remember that but have also had that politeness completely scrubbed from me. I wish we still lived in a time when being scammed or spammed wasn't so prevalent, but we don't and I'm not doing anything that might tip off either of those groups that my number is ripe for the picking.
  - muststopmyths 4y ago
    Oh yeah, no judgement implied. It’s just a force of habit for me.
- jameshart 4y ago
  Wrong numbers generally used to be caused by misdialing. Nobody dials numbers any more.
  - SapporoChris 4y ago
    Generally, you are correct. However I had an interesting experience in the 90's where someone's number was somehow linked to mine. So their friends kept calling, for the first few times I politely said that X wasn't here, they had the wrong number. However I had a call blocker on my line, and after two or three phone calls I'd just add the number to the call blocker. I also had an answering machine, and eventually, I got a long diatribe from the irate person whose number had been linked to mine who was very upset about the situation. They explained the phone company had accidently linked the numbers somehow. They were very upset because their friends couldn't reach them and because I had been call blocking them. So, I listened to the message, thought a moment and then added them to my call block list.

extheat 4y ago

I thought it was just me also. At first my assumption was "OK, I'm being redirected a bunch of texts from other numbers", as nobody else I asked had similar problems (and I wasn't really being scammed at all). Some of the scammers even sent pictures to make them seem more legitimate. On iOS, the green bubbles and just continual flow of similar texts eventually made it suspicions that I don't even reply wrong number anymore. I just delete and block.

cmg 4y ago

I've gotten a few in the last couple months, with a US cellular number that I've had for over 20 years. At least two are "I missed you at the gym today!" via text and another was from a Vermont area code via WhatsApp to a "Dr. Jack": > Hi Dr. Jack! My cat is very slow and does not eat cat food. Can you make an appointment for me? > Sorry, you have the wrong number > Sorry, I just checked, I entered a wrong number, please don't mind. hope I did not disturb you. > Best of luck with your cat! > thank you for understanding. You are a kind person. where do you come from. And then I just moved on with my day, because as nice as that sounded I wasn't looking for a conversation. The contact profile image is of a young, attractive Asian woman, I think at a restaurant. No reverse image results on Tineye or Google. [Edit: I’ve had this number for over 20 years (not “nearly 20”) and now I feel old.]

forgetfulness 4y ago
The pictures are always super blurry, clearly fabricated or heavily doctored. Often I've gotten the same portrait for several scam texts from different numbers.
- KMag 4y ago
  To be fair, my wife says the same thing about the photos I take with my phone.
  - forgetfulness 4y ago
    Finding the right place to focus the camera is essential, to both focus on the plane you are looking for as to have it focused on a spot that will produce the desired brightness in the overall picture (how that works I don't know, just advice from an ex that went to photography school for some time)
RajT88 4y ago
I had almost the exact same exchange, with someone with a photo just like that! 747 area code, was it?

yrgulation 4y ago

Likely an exploit or simply a means to confirm the number is active. Getting those in the uk as well.