To think this is a scam

[KateMiddletonsExtensions]

Received a text saying

"Hi Kate, just to let you know my new mobile number, speak soon xx"

No sign off. How am I expected to know who it is? Am I bloody psychic? Or is it a scam? I put the number in whocalledme.com but nothing came up.

Has anyone else received a message like this? I've blocked it but screenshotted the text and number for future reference.

I should have RTFT - didn’t realise it was the OPs real name they’d used.

the ones I’ve seen pretend they're texting somebody, throw in a random name and get into convo after apologising for texting a wrong number.

got a message from my adult daughter saying that she had been mugged and her phone and bank card were stolen and she was texting from a friends phone- could I transfer her some money into friends bank just until she got a replacement phone and bank card. (for context she lives at the other end of the country in a busy city). I rang the number, turned out it actually was my daughter and someone had swiped her handbag while she was travelling. I did think it was a scam to start with though.

Jesus. I have been the victim of a crime. A lot worse than my car being broken into. I think you’ll find that many many people have.

Still would have sent a text back asking who it was or just checked in bloody WhatsApp for the profile pic and name. Did you even do that after it was suggested? Or just no, get the police involved.

I think the first line of the post you quoted was most telling! Checking WhatsApp wouldn’t have been nearly dramatic enough…

The police were interested in a theft? Someone broke into my car and stole stuff and the police didn’t even want to know what had been stolen. Maybe it depends on what area you live in as to what resources they have.

Obviously not, I mentioned that just to point out not every one is sensible or able to understand these things, having the same old biddy ring me back FOUR times because she had got a call from my number which absolutely was a scam and I told her it was a scam and not to reply to unknown numbers, etc, etc, FOUR times, shows how vulnerable some people are. That lady would no doubt have rung back and probably done whatever the person said so it's worth them randomly sending those messages until they find someone vulnerable.

Because then you’ve engaged whoever the scammer is.

Because then you’ve engaged whoever the scammer is.

But what do you think engaging with the scammer is going to do?

And?

The block function works after you've replied

So? What’s going to happen?

No one can do anything with your phone number and a couple of replies while
you check if it is your friend. What do
you actually think will happen?

They can’t force you to give them anything. If you check and it isn’t your friend then you block and move on. Every one of these phone scammers are looking for easily tricked people. If you push back or ignore then they disappear. Even if they didn’t disappear, what do you think they can do?

The hysteria on mumsnet is utterly out of control. Don’t answer your door, don’t answer an unknown caller, don’t reply to a simple text from a friend which didn’t folllw the scam patterns, don’t give out your bank details to anyone (even though they’d re used to receive a payment and cannot be used to make a payment).

This is not a healthy place for people like the OP who are clearly going through something, have issues or are vulnerable.

Ditto. I work in FCP and AML and definitely advise not to reply to unknown numbers.

Its a naive viewpoint to say ‘well they’ve not asked for money’ - as we know there’s many ways of scamming without asking for cash

Probably just forgot to sign off with a name. Rather than run to Mumsnet, why not simply message or call the number to see if you know the sender? That would be the logical and proportionate response.

And absolutely none of those ways matter if you block/ignore after checking if it’s actually your friend.

How do people actually get through a day without help when they live in an cloud of fear.

I’d love to say it was impossible for scammers to find out your name first, but it really isn’t. It can actually be relatively simple, especially if you’ve ever used a phone number for work.

Think about it - if hackers can get the details of your bank account and address and spoof the helpline number of your bank, finding out someone’s first name shouldn’t be that hard.

So in this specific case op messages back and the scammer says they are "name of actual friend" what would be the next step in the scam that she would fall for?

Maybe they don’t? Maybe they’ve automatically generated thousands of “dear Kate” texts knowing a small proportion will land up with a “Kate”. Tiny cost of doing this is well repaid by ending up with someone who thinks it’s genuine because “they know my name”

Only if they happen upon a Kate who also then has a friend called Susan when they reply to the who dis message and then falls for a long con where "Susan" eventually asks for money without having had any genuine contact with the real Susan in the meanwhile

That's quite some odds

Which has nothing to do with hacking a phone??? It was just irrelevant to the thread (hacking a phone isn’t a scam) and to my comment.

Didn’t say they couldn’t, but it’s more unlikely they’d do that when they can mass text without a name. And, the main point was people were missing the fairly obvious point she was using her username in place of her real name.

And, the main point was people were missing the fairly obvious point she was using her username in place of her real name.

Well I certainly realised that, but the actual name doesn’t matter. The same principles apply as long as the name was right.

Susan hadn't been introduced by the time of the post that I responded to.

If "Susan" isn't introduced to the scam it doesn't go anywhere, what would the scammer say when Kate asks who the text is from?
I'm not telling you but send me some money?

They have your number, they can already see your profile 🤦🏻‍♀️

If you haven’t set your privacy settings.

How is that high drama? It sounds like the most boring police call ever.

And you did waste their time.

It's worrying how many people think this is probably legit because they know your name.

Treat ALL unknown numbers as scams unless you can speak to the person and verify with absolute certainty who they are.

I would be ignoring the text. If genuine they would have signed it off with a name for starters. What prat is going to text you about a new number and not provide their name?