Dealing with an Unwanted Texting Scam: My Experience and Lessons Learned

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share a concerning issue I’ve recently encountered that may resonate with some of you. While catching up with an old friend during a Zoom call, I learned that they had been receiving peculiar text messages purportedly from me. Initially, I dismissed it, assuming it was a case of typical number spoofing, which sadly has become increasingly common in scams. However, the content of these texts was alarming.

What struck me about these messages were their casual prompts like, “New phone, who’s this?” Along with these texts, they also included photos that are frequently associated with “troll” accounts across various platforms. This led me to suspect that someone might be exploiting my number just to elicit reactions from my contacts. For those interested, I’ve shared screenshots of these texts in a post on r/Verizon.

I’m reaching out to see if anyone has insights into how I can resolve this situation. My phone is vital for my work communications, and the last thing I want is for this issue to escalate.

Update: After contacting Verizon, they confirmed that the messages weren’t sent through their network, leading me to realize that either my Apple ID had been compromised (which I have since changed) or my number was spoofed. I’ve informed my friend about the situation and advised anyone else who might have been affected to reach out to me. While the issue isn’t fully resolved, I’m taking steps to mitigate any further risks.

To provide additional context, this unusual texting activity has only been reported by that specific friend back in September. Living in a rural area since March due to the pandemic, I’ve had limited exposure to people, and the only ones near my phone have been family and older coworkers who wouldn’t typically engage in such behavior, nor would they likely have those types of photos. It appears that the motive behind this may not be malicious intent aimed at stealing information but rather a prank of sorts. Regardless, I’m remaining vigilant and have decided to contact my bank to remove this number from my account to further protect my financial information.

If anyone has encountered something similar or has tips on how to handle such situations, I would greatly appreciate your input! Thank you for your time, and stay safe out there!