Hello, this is my first post so please bear with me!
I wanted to talk about something that’s been going on for a few years now. Every so often, not as much recently, I recieve a group text from an email address. The text is sent to 19 phone numbers including my own, all containing the same first 5 or so digits as my number, but going up or down chronologically. The message is usually something explicit regarding a meet up for sex or whatever, lazily written using numbers for letters, like “h3y th3r3,” and always contains a link. I never tap the link of course, but I take a screenshot and delete the message immediately. I don’t keep track of the reciepent lists to see if they are always the same, but I think they are new each time. There are always 19 numbers plus the email adress in the recpients list, but that could just be my phone’s limit and there could be more numbers recieving the message. I wouldn’t know. Only once has anyone replied to the group text, and it quickly ensued a back-and-forth conversation between the “number neighbors.” I believe a game of virtual pool was being played the last time I saw the group, but I eventually blocked everyone who left a message. The email address never replies, obviously, and is always a random name plus some numbers, like smithjohn123@yahoo or whathaveyou. Sometimes I would see if the email is real by sending them a link to Jim Browning’s or Pleasant Green’s YT channels through a throwaway email address and telling them to get a life. I’ve never gotten a reply. They are most likely bots. I don’t really care about that. It’s always a new one every time. I haven’t gotten one in a few months but I do believe someone replied to the group text recently because I recieved a message that made no sense and was sent to a bunch of numbers at once. I forget what it said and I deleted the text and blocked them.
ALSO, I have been getting a LOT of calls from my home state. The numbers have the same 3-digit area code. I never answer them because I have no reason to, I don’t live there anymore. I hate to think that someone has spoofed my number and is using it to scam people, that the callers are returning a call from my number. The reason I think this is because 2 years ago, I recieved a call from someone in my area who asked me who I was. I was confused, why would you call someone and then angrily ask them who they are? I hung up and forgot about it until that whole group text thing. One of the numbers that kept texting back was already in my blocked numbers list. ??? First of all, throwback. Second, why was I seeing his texts? Turns out I can see his texts but he can’t see mine. I admit I joined the group chat briefly and realized, as the mystery caller was confused by someone’s out of context reply to me, that he couldn’t see my texts. It was funny.
I just wanted to share this because nobody I know would appreciate it as much.
Happy new year!