Pressure and moving off the app
'Wrong number' text that turned friendly
'Hi, is this Sarah?' or 'Are we still on for golf Sunday?' from a number you don't know. You reply that they've got the wrong person, they apologize, and then they'd like to keep chatting. The FTC lists this among the most common text scams, and it's a favorite opener for investment scripts.
What it looks like
- A casual, specific-sounding message meant for someone else, often with a photo of an attractive stranger.
- A quick, warm apology, then 'you seem nice, where are you from?'
- Within days the chat drifts toward their success with crypto, gold, or trading.
- The same message hitting many people at once, word for word.
Why did a stranger text me by mistake and keep talking?
The wrong-number text isn't a mistake. It's a way to start a conversation without a dating profile that could be reported. Because you replied first, it feels like your idea to keep going. From there the script is patient: friendship, then trust, then a chance to 'learn' investing on a platform that will show profits until you try to withdraw.
What to do
- Don't reply, even to say 'wrong number'. Replying confirms your number is live and read.
- Block and delete. In the US you can forward the text to 7726 (SPAM).
- If you already got talking and investing came up, stop before you send anything. How that pitch works.
- Look the number up here and add what happened so the next person sees it.
More in the tips: Texts and calls.
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If it happened to you, report the number. It shows up here once it's in.
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