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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Weird WhatsApp message

40 replies

OutlandishBird · 29/09/2022 20:16

Not an AIBU but posting for traffic.

Some time ago (2-3 years maybe) I got a random message on WhatsApp for a guy named Steve.
Really weird message with very specific details that made it very memorable.
I replied saying I'm not Steve, they asked who I was and I replied with a vague "I'm "x" from "y" county".
They replied with a jokey, "oops, wrong gender wrong end of the country" and then sent a photo of themselves and I stopped replying at that point.

I've just received the exact same message again?! I'm certain it's as close to word for word as it could get.
Is this just some weird WhatsApp scam? 🤔

I'll add a screenshot of the message, anyone else received it, or similar?

OP posts:

Original poster

OutlandishBird · 29/09/2022 22:14

mamamilkmachine · 29/09/2022 22:06

I honestly thought nothing of it other than it being quite funny! I can't believe you had the same message. I didn't engage after telling them I wasn't Steve either but they then invited me out. My Husband said that maybe they are looking for lonely people. They then invite them out with their "fun" sounding friendship group and ask for some kind of deposit for a hotel or something??? Here is the rest of our conversation......

Honestly the messages you got are pretty much exactly what I got, except I then got a random photo of a guy in, I think, a pink cowboy hat 🤣
The WhatsApp profile from this time around is also using the name Michael, the same as your guy.
Maybe it really is just some drunk Scottish bloke, desperately typing in every variation of a phone number trying to find his long lost mate Steve 🤣

OP posts:

Lurleene · 29/09/2022 22:15

I don't put my number on Gumtree anymore. Not since I advertised a dress on there and within minutes I had a phone call and the guy on the other end was clearly wanking 😖

Original poster

OutlandishBird · 29/09/2022 22:18

Lurleene · 29/09/2022 22:15

I don't put my number on Gumtree anymore. Not since I advertised a dress on there and within minutes I had a phone call and the guy on the other end was clearly wanking 😖

Ugh! I tried to sell a pair of shoes and had some creep asking me to model them first to see if they'd look good on his wife 🙄
I'm used to random scammers asking me to post items etc but some stuff just baffles me (despite knowing how depraved people can be).

OP posts:

Original poster

OutlandishBird · 29/09/2022 22:19

RedAmber · 29/09/2022 22:12

How weird! Would love to know how this becomes a scam. I want the message so I can string them along!

Maybe I should unblock him so I don't have to wait another 2-3 years to see how this plays out!

OP posts:

Lurleene · 29/09/2022 22:20

Yuk ! How sad, getting your jollies trawling the selling sites.

MMBaranova · 29/09/2022 22:26

>I can't see what the scam could be,

Extracting information from you / drawing you in to some scheme / soon getting you to click on a link that tries to install malicious software?

So many scammy things look preposterous to most people. However, enough people presumably fall for them to make them worth going on with. Mass sending messages to numbers that are probably in use might have a very low overhead, low 'useful' response rate but occasionally catch a big enough fish.

mamamilkmachine · 29/09/2022 22:26

@OutlandishBird such a coincidence that I happened to open this thread, would love to know what the end game was. If it was the same number that messaged you then I could have believed it to be some insane coincidence...but as it was different it just must be a scam!

Tsort · 29/09/2022 22:35

It’s 2022. How are people still engaging with randoms on What’s App and putting their phone numbers on Gumtree?

This is basic tech safety stuff. The average 12 year old knows not to do those things!

toomanyhobbies · 29/09/2022 22:42

Can someone else not message Micheal pretending to be Steve 😂

phishy · 29/09/2022 23:11

OutlandishBird · 29/09/2022 21:55

The exchange went something like "So you're not Steve from...? (Somewhere in Scotland)" and I said " no, I'm "x" from "y" "
It's just the way the conversation flowed and I was careful not to give away anything they could use to gain any more of my identity.
Really not worth getting hung up on 🙄

Show quote history

I also think it’s bizarre you told them your name and town.

People are so gullible. The conversation didn’t flow, they got the info out of you.

Original poster

OutlandishBird · 29/09/2022 23:32

phishy · 29/09/2022 23:11

I also think it’s bizarre you told them your name and town.

People are so gullible. The conversation didn’t flow, they got the info out of you.

Show quote history

🤣 I didn't tell them my name and town, I told them my first name and county. It's a large county!
Not only that, but if they did indeed get my number through a Gumtree advert, then they could already access that very basic information freely (on Gumtree you have to give your name when registering and your town when posting an advert!), and they could get my full address if they messaged pretending to be interested in the item I'm selling!
Honestly, I think people are a bit too uptight about things like this. There is literally nothing they can do with the information "Emma from Wiltshire" (NOT my real name and county in case you're scared that info can be used somehow...)

OP posts:

Tha · 29/09/2022 23:41

Whoever is looking for Steve started out in 2021 as an American trying to type like a Scot and by 2022 it's like he's from Essex or something lmao. 😂

TheWheeledAvenger · 30/09/2022 00:12

The purpose of the scam is to test whether the number is active or not. By replying you've confirmed that the number is an active one (ie being actively used by a real person).

Their intention is to get a reply from you - any reply.

Active numbers are valuable to scammers, because they sell lists of numbers proven to be active. You've also proved that you are the type of person willing to engage with a total stranger.

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 30/09/2022 07:00

TheWheeledAvenger · 30/09/2022 00:12

The purpose of the scam is to test whether the number is active or not. By replying you've confirmed that the number is an active one (ie being actively used by a real person).

Their intention is to get a reply from you - any reply.

Active numbers are valuable to scammers, because they sell lists of numbers proven to be active. You've also proved that you are the type of person willing to engage with a total stranger.

Isn't large scale phone scamming pretty automated nowadays, does knowing that a person opened a WhatsApp really have any value? The OP doesn't appear to have been inundated by scam messages from the first contact so her number wasn't passed on or maybe only to piss poor scammers.

ChilliBandit · 30/09/2022 08:38

There is another thread at the moment about why people fall for scammers and some of the posts on here confirm how naive some people can be. Particularly the “I don’t see how this could be a scam” ones. How can it be anything other than a scam with several people receiving the exact same message. It’s coming from different numbers because different scammers are all using the same script they’ve found somewhere. They just need to hook one person in and they can make thousands.

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