Receiving a simple “hello” text from an unknown number may seem harmless at first glance, but there’s often a devious motive behind it. These unsolicited messages are part of “smishing” campaigns, where scammers send texts to elicit responses and gather sensitive personal information.
The initial “hello” serves as a test to determine if your phone number is active. By responding in any way, you inadvertently confirm to the scammer that your number is valid, making you a potential target for further manipulation.
In some cases, scammers may impersonate familiar entities or create scenarios to trick you into divulging personal or financial details. These tactics play on emotions like curiosity and trust to lure victims into their schemes.
To protect yourself from falling victim to these scams, it’s crucial not to engage with unknown numbers sending generic greetings. Avoid responding and instead block the number to prevent further contact. Remember, scammers rely on people’s willingness to engage, so staying vigilant and ignoring these messages is key to safeguarding your information.
To address the issue, Nofziger suggests informing people that it is acceptable not to respond to unsolicited texts. You can utilize your phone’s tools to remove and report scam messages. For iMessages, a notification indicating that the sender is not in your contacts will show up for messages from unknown sources. You can then select “Report Junk” and “Delete and Report Junk” to get rid of the text. To block unwanted numbers, tap on the number, choose “Info,” and then select “Block this Caller” on an iOS device.
On Android devices, marking a conversation as spam will block the sender and move the message to the “Spam & blocked” folder. If you unintentionally disclose too much information to a potential threat, change your login details, passwords, and block the number immediately. Be cautious of clicking on random links in texts to prevent potential malware downloads. Nofziger advises treating texts from unfamiliar numbers with suspicion, as they may be the beginning of a scam.
