AI-Powered 'Wrong Number' Text Scams: A Growing Threat to Personal Data and Finances

Receiving odd texts for someone else? Rise of 'wrong number' messages is new payday for scammers

AI is making "wrong number" text scams more common, and the best defense is no response, and reporting the text as spam. "Sorry, I'm running a little late; I'll meet you for dinner at 6:15." If you have been on the receiving end of an increasing number of seemingly random and innocuous texts like those, you aren't alone. And it wasn't a wrong number. Online scammers are increasingly turned to "wrong number" message tactics, aided by AI, to trick phone users into providing access to personal information and financial accounts. Ann Nagel, who works at a college in suburban Chicago, received a text that was convincing enough to make her think she should respond. "I had actually thought it was from one of my members from an organization I run in town. It had me going for a few seconds," Nagel said. But she quickly realized it was a scam when the texter asked Nagel to send a Vanilla Visa gift card and scratch off the back numbers. Nagel quickly ended the text exchange. "They are a tricky bunch of thieves, no doubt," Nagel said. Steve Grobman, chief technology officer at McAfee, says there is usually much more going on than just an innocent wrong number. The texters have multiple objectives by sending seemingly harmless missives to your phone. First, he says, the scammers - most often based overseas - are validating that the mobile number is active and the person is willing to engage and respond. "They are adding the number to their database so they can target it surgically for future scams," Grobman said. They can note in their files that this person could be a potential future victim even if the initial exchange doesn't bear fruit. And if a person, phone company, or wireless carrier blocks a number, the scammers will move onto the next one, as has been happening during the recent wave of toll fine scams. "Once the first objective is met, what they are trying to do is build some sort of relationships," Grobman said, and he added that these criminals are often working as part of well-funded, well-organized criminal enterprises. Scammers are willing to put in the work to reach their ultimate aim, which is parting you from your money, and Grobman says the highest yield scams are ones that involve forging a personal relationship that can be turned into a form of what is known as a "pig butchering scam. "It is slow; you feed the victim and slowly gain trust and move it forward," Grobman said. In 2024, consumers lost $470 million to scams that started with text messages, according to the Federal Trade Commission, five times higher than what was reported in 2020. Long, draw-out, text scams -- sometimes including a romantic element -- are chasing someone's life savings or retirement account. "Because there is such a large payoff, it is worth the extra time required to grow it," Grobman said. McAfee's research shows that 1 in 4 Americans have received these wrong number texts, although email still leads the way in overall online scam attempts, at 47 percent, followed by 24 percent via text, and 24 by social media. AI is making these once time-consuming, laborious scams more efficient and easier to target people. AI can help criminals zero in on area codes for tailored texts, comb through social media profiles, and build out family networks. "Wrong number" texts, in particular, are increasing because of the confluence of data dumps over the past few years combined with AI's availability. "This allows scammers to create highly believable scams, higher levels of engagement, and higher levels of victims falling for scams," Grobman said. "Consumers need to be very careful. You really shouldn't engage," he added. But that can be difficult for some because psychology is as much a part of the text scammer's toolkit as AI and software. "Their effectiveness taps into something much deeper: our human need for connection," said Malka Shaw, a New Jersey-based psychotherapist in private practice who has seen a rise in text scam victims in her practice. Shaw says the long shadow of Covid continues to casts its darkness over this problem. "We're living in a time where loneliness has reached epidemic levels. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, so many people feel disconnected and unseen," Shaw said. People who have endured trauma in their past or are lonely can find themselves more drawn into connections that can come via text. "Their cognitive biases will be down, and they'll say, 'I need that contact.' That is how they get you in," Shaw said. AI in the hands of criminals makes it easy and fast to scan social media profiles for people who might seem lonely and then connect them to a phone number. Even if the innocuous scams don't yield a big pig-butchering payday, they can still be worthwhile. Eder Ribeiro, director of global incident response at TransUnion, says emptying someone's life savings is the primary goal, but hackers can still derive secondary value from the texting. "Data is money," Ribeiro said, adding that even if they only get a name and phone number, such info can be sold on the dark web, or perhaps they'll get enough data to sell on the dark web and crack your email. In some cases, a text scammer will be able to extract enough of a response to track down the person's social media accounts and lock them out and people are willing to pay to reclaim their accounts. "We see people pay smaller amounts of money to gain access to their social media," Riberio said, adding that those "mini-ransoms" can be between $200-$800, not the huge payday the hacker was seeking, but still something. "They can find out stuff about most people and use it for extortion, fraud, or the information can be aggregated for the data and sold," Ribiero said. Dustin Brewer, senior director of proactive cybersecurity services at BlueVoyant, says the best advice for recipients of unwanted texts is to ignore the messages. Do not initiate a response and mark them as spam. These simple steps empower people by making a firm decision while removing the text from their inbox. "And doing so makes me an undesirable target for the scammer, and no follow-up messages occur for the most part," Brewer said. Marking it spam could help others by alerting your messaging app that this message is potential bait for a scammer. Some messaging apps use this type of reporting to detect future scams and protect other users, Brewer said. But TransUnion's Ribiero says, for now, expect the texts to continue. "The frequency is increasing because it works, and if you get results, you keep doing it," he said.

Receiving odd texts for someone else? Rise of 'wrong number' messages is new payday for scammers.

Long, draw-out, text scams -- sometimes including a romantic element -- are chasing someone's life savings or retirement account. nacoki / Getty Images "Sorry, I'm running a little late; I'll meet you for dinner at 6:15." If you have been on the receiving end of an increasing number of seemingly random and innocuous texts like those, you aren't alone. And it wasn't a wrong number. Online scammers are increasingly turned to "wrong number" message tactics, aided by AI, to trick phone users into providing access to personal information and financial accounts. Ann Nagel, who works at a college in suburban Chicago, received a text that was convincing enough to make her think she should respond. "I had actually thought it was from one of my members from an organization I run in town. It had me going for a few seconds," Nagel said. But she quickly realized it was a scam when the texter asked Nagel to send a Vanilla Visa gift card and scratch off the back numbers. Nagel quickly ended the text exchange. "They are a tricky bunch of thieves, no doubt," Nagel said. Steve Grobman, chief technology officer at McAfee, says there is usually much more going on than just an innocent wrong number. The texters have multiple objectives by sending seemingly harmless missives to your phone. First, he says, the scammers -- most often based overseas -- are validating that the mobile number is active and the person is willing to engage and respond. "They are adding the number to their database so they can target it surgically for future scams," Grobman said. They can note in their files that this person could be a potential future victim even if the initial exchange doesn't bear fruit. And if a person, phone company, or wireless carrier blocks a number, the scammers will move onto the next one, as has been happening during the recent wave of toll fine scams. "Once the first objective is met, what they are trying to do is build some sort of relationships," Grobman said, and he added that these criminals are often working as part of well-funded, well-organized criminal enterprises. Scammers are willing to put in the work to reach their ultimate aim, which is parting you from your money, and Grobman says the highest yield scams are ones that involve forging a personal relationship that can be turned into a form of what is known as a "pig butchering scam. "It is slow; you feed the victim and slowly gain trust and move it forward," Grobman said. In 2024, consumers lost $470 million to scams that started with text messages, according to the Federal Trade Commission, five times higher than what was reported in 2020. Long, draw-out, text scams -- sometimes including a romantic element -- are chasing someone's life savings or retirement account. "Because there is such a large payoff, it is worth the extra time required to grow it," Grobman said. McAfee's research shows that 1 in 4 Americans have received these wrong number texts, although email still leads the way in overall online scam attempts, at 47 percent, followed by 24 percent via text, and 24 by social media. AI is making these once time-consuming, laborious scams more efficient and easier to target people. AI can help criminals zero in on area codes for tailored texts, comb through social media profiles, and build out family networks. "Wrong number" texts, in particular, are increasing because of the confluence of data dumps over the past few years combined with AI's availability. "This allows scammers to create highly believable scams, higher levels of engagement, and higher levels of victims falling for scams," Grobman said. "Consumers need to be very careful. You really shouldn't engage," he added. But that can be difficult for some because psychology is as much a part of the text scammer's toolkit as AI and software. "Their effectiveness taps into something much deeper: our human need for connection," said Malka Shaw, a New Jersey-based psychotherapist in private practice who has seen a rise in text scam victims in her practice. Shaw says the long shadow of Covid continues to casts its darkness over this problem. "We're living in a time where loneliness has reached epidemic levels. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, so many people feel disconnected and unseen," Shaw said. People who have endured trauma in their past or are lonely can find themselves more drawn into connections that can come via text. "Their cognitive biases will be down, and they'll say, 'I need that contact.' That is how they get you in," Shaw said. AI in the hands of criminals makes it easy and fast to scan social media profiles for people who might seem lonely and then connect them to a phone number. Even if the innocuous scams don't yield a big pig-butchering payday, they can still be worthwhile. Eder Ribeiro, director of global incident response at TransUnion, says emptying someone's life savings is the primary goal, but hackers can still derive secondary value from the texting. "Data is money," Ribeiro said, adding that even if they only get a name and phone number, such info can be sold on the dark web, or perhaps they'll get enough data to sell on the dark web and crack your email. In some cases, a text scammer will be able to extract enough of a response to track down the person's social media accounts and lock them out and people are willing to pay to reclaim their accounts. "We see people pay smaller amounts of money to gain access to their social media," Riberio said, adding that those "mini-ransoms" can be between $200-$800, not the huge payday the hacker was seeking, but still something. "They can find out stuff about most people and use it for extortion, fraud, or the information can be aggregated for the data and sold," Ribiero said. Dustin Brewer, senior director of proactive cybersecurity services at BlueVoyant, says the best advice for recipients of unwanted texts is to ignore the messages. Do not initiate a response and mark them as spam. These simple steps empower people by making a firm decision while removing the text from their inbox. "And doing so makes me an undesirable target for the scammer, and no follow-up messages occur for the most part," Brewer said. Marking it spam could help others by alerting your messaging app that this message is potential bait for a scammer. Some messaging apps use this type of reporting to detect future scams and protect other users, Brewer said. But TransUnion's Ribiero says, for now, expect the texts to continue. "The frequency is increasing because it works, and if you get results, you keep doing it," he said.

'Wrong Phone Number' Scams Are on the Rise

If you've received an innocent-sounding text from a number you don't recognize, it's not actually innocent. It's likely the start of a "wrong phone number" scam, which is increasingly being used to steal money and information from victims. I personally have been sent variations on this theme: "Hello! I hope you had a good day." "Are you able to work?" and just "Hello." Research from security firm McAfee reported by CNBC indicates that around 25% of Americans have received wrong number texts. But this isn't the only widespread text message scam currently circulating. The unpaid tolls and unpaid parking fee schemes are phishing attempts that may seem legitimate at first glance but ultimately lead you to hand your credit card information over to thieves. According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost $470 million to text message scams in 2024, a five-fold increase over 2020. The wrong number text scam starts with a random and seemingly harmless text from an unfamiliar number, the first objective of which is to prompt a response and confirm that your phone number is active. After that, scammers try to build a relationship (often romantic) and gain your trust over days and months by preying on loneliness and a desire for connection. This can turn into a so-called "pig butchering" scam, with fraudsters soliciting investments or convincing you to hand over retirement savings, a long con that potentially comes with a big payday. But even if victims don't end up sending money, any information they provide (even if innocuous) can be used or sold on the dark web. AI has enabled this scam in several ways: It can help tailor more believable texts by area code, as well as cull social media profiles to identify potential targets and locate their phone numbers, making it more efficient for scammers. It may also collect enough information for fraudsters to gain access to social media accounts, lock them down, and demand a ransom. If you receive a text from a number you don't know, don't respond, as doing so validates your phone number. Even if you don't engage in this exchange any further, you may be targeted again in the future (and by different unfamiliar numbers). You also don't need to try to find out who they are or whether you know them -- if someone actually needs to reach you, they are likely to follow up with multiple messages or calls beyond a single "Hey, how are you?" And as with any scam, be wary of communication that provokes an emotional response or a sense of urgency. You should mark wrong number messages as spam in your messaging app. In Messages on iOS, tap the Report Junk link that appears at the bottom of messages from unknown senders, then hit Delete > Report Junk. If you haven't opened the message yet, you can also swipe left and tap the Trash icon > Delete and Report Junk. (Note that you can't report a message if you've replied to it, which is another reason not to do so.) On Android, you can block and report conversations in Google Messages: tap and hold, then tap Block > Report spam > OK. If you've already opened the conversation, hit More options > Details > Block & report spam > OK.