Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts

Posted by supportengineer on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @08:58PM
from the ask-hn dept.

I've been getting these kinds of texts more often. They are probably scams or phishing, but It got me thinking, If your phone or the cellular phone network was inadvertently making extra copies of texts and sending them to the wrong people, how would you ever know?

( 21 comments | 4 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by cowsup on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @09:37PM (#36872114)

> If your phone or the cellular phone network was inadvertently making extra copies of texts and sending them to the wrong people, how would you ever know?

Timing of the texts, contents of the messages.

If I text my friend "I'll be there tonight," and then I get a strange text within an hour saying "Who is this?" then I would raise an eyebrow, but likely not engage.

If I text my friend "sounds good" and then I get a "Who are you" text an hour later, that's not as relevant to what I wrote, so not worth a second thought.

If I text my friend "Hey, Lisa says she lost your number, is it cool if I give it to her?" and then I get a text a day later saying "Who is Lisa," I'd be very concerned.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by batiudrami on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @09:26PM (#36872037)

Almost certainly romance scams.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by creatonez on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @09:45PM (#36872161)

Reply and find out :D

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by seeknotfind on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @09:45PM (#36872163)

Some people would invariably reply with screenshots and resolve the confusion and then take it up with their carriers. For instance, how sometimes you realize a text didn't get sent at all. Makes me wonder which all other ones didn't.

Of course the carriers and co have reasons galore to prevent and test these properties themselves.

Also don't use SMS.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by cpfohl on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @09:55PM (#36872226)

The correct response to this is always, “I told you to use a burner! The feds know about this number!”

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by Arrath on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @10:06PM (#36872291)

Welp now I know what to say, thanks!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by twiceaday on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @02:17AM (#36873719)

Seems like the correct response is no response because you don't want to confirm that the number is in active use? They must at least record a bit that you replied, which makes your number a more valuable commodity.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by cpfohl on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @08:46AM (#36876748)

This is the actual correct answer, yes, but I figure if I can get them trying to scam me then they’ll spend less time trying to scam my grandpa… I’m probably wrong these days; it’s probably a ScamGPT instance, but it brings me joy.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by theshrike79 on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @09:51AM (#36877711)

This is why I always answer telemarketers if I'm not waiting for an actual call.

1) answer

2) go mm-hmmm to their first question

3) phone on mute and set it on the table and go about my day

I think the record for a telemarketer monologue is a bit over 3 minutes before they figured out I'm not responding. That was 3 minutes they weren't scamming anyone else to subscribe to whatever. I'm practically a human Tarpit for telemarketers =)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by cykros on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @07:24AM (#36875878)

I'm glad someone else is on the same page. When I get the "Is this Roger?" or whatever texts, it's always "Yes. I got the merchandise you requested. We'll handle the trade off behind the loading dock at midnight. Make sure to come alone."

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by tschwimmer on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @09:57PM (#36872241)

You're overthinking it. It's almost always a foot in the door tactic to begin a conversation. The "mystery" of wondering why someone would text "who is this" to a random phone number is more disarming than "hey" or launching directly into the scam. Sure, it's not a very good strategy but since these messages are sent automatically at massive scale, it only has to be marginally better to be a worthwhile strategy.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by netsharc on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @10:07PM (#36872295)

Scammers could probably using random numbers to call/text potential victims, and the RNG has ended up generating your phone number. Or the scammer might not even be using an RNG.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by pxue on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @10:07PM (#36872296)

Could spammer be spoofing random people's numbers?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by valbaca on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @10:41PM (#36872507)

https://www.wired.com/story/imessage-interactionless-hacks-g...

That’s why

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by creatonez on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @06:24AM (#36875366)

Currently patched, as is usually the case for known issues

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by xcavier on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @11:52PM (#36872865)

I've seen an increase in strangers messaging me on WhatsApp. When I ask them how we know each other, they tell me a friend passed on my details and said I was a good person to know, they're new to the city etc. If I press on the details, they eventually say something along the lines of "Oh, I mistyped the number I was given - I was meant to text someone else" (in some scenarios they go straight to this line when I ask how we know each other). Invariably they then say "you sound like a nice person, let's chat". Classic scam setup.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by DougN7 on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @08:05AM (#36876300)

I’ve engaged a few times just to see what they’re after. Eventually I tell them I know what is going on, they are a thief, and suggest they change their life so their mother can be proud of them. They REALLY do not like hearing that.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by cpfohl on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @08:49AM (#36876786)

They get real cranky when you pretend that you don’t have a WhatsApp account to switch to.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by foogazi on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @12:47AM (#36873226)

Do not engage

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by tamimio on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @01:44AM (#36873548)

Hook it to chatgpt and let them both have an endless conversation :)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Who are you”, “Who is this” texts by xtiansimon on Wednesday July 26, 2023 @07:56AM (#36876225)

Signal to noise. If it’s important, then they’ll call.

[ Parent | on HN ]