It happens. Some strange message shows up in your texts from a number that you just don’t recognize.
“Hi, I’m not going to be able to see you today. Can we meet up some other time?” or “Hey, what are you doing?” These are conversations just begging for an answer and perhaps you respond with a polite, “sorry wrong number” or even get a name from the sender and start chatting with them. That might not be a good idea.
The trouble is if you do respond, the sender may start coaxing you into a cryptocurrency investment scam. Here’s how it works. The owner of the unknown number will send an innocent but conversational message hoping the recipient will respond. If they do, they’ll strike up a casual, short conversation before working into the conversation. They are a consultant or advisor involving cryptocurrency. Then, they’ll send a link for you to send small amounts of crypto. Next, they’ll make a withdrawal to prove that the system is real and encourage you to invest more. By the time the scam is realized, thousands of dollars are gone.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, it’s becoming more of a common practice and 2022 is on track to be the first year when more people have reported scammers’ contacting them by text rather than by phone. In fact, the FCC issued a warning about ‘threat robotexts.’ The FTC’s estimates for this year found that 6% of people who reported text message fraud actually lost money on them —…
