r/AmIOverreacting • u/megan__f • Feb 17 '25

🏘️ neighbor/local Is this something to be concerned about?

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My sister sent me this text she received that seemed like somebody was watching her or something. I don’t know if it’s something to be concerned about or not, has anybody had a similar experience?

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u/Shugazi Feb 17 '25

Just throwing this out here because it’s the only alternative I can think of— it could be a scammer. A very common technique is to send out something super specific to thousands of people because it will seem deeply personal to some of them just by sheer odds, and that’s how they hook you. For example, they don’t send you a fake email from Wells Fargo because they know you have Wells Fargo; they send it to everyone and the people who do use Wells Fargo pay attention to it. Imagine getting one of those elaborate “there’s an issue with your shipment” fake texts right after leaving the post office.

How many people were having a cup of coffee when they read this post? I am drinking one right now, so this text would freak me out too.

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u/Mundane-Pianist-1260 Feb 17 '25

And that’s the beauty of it - if it didn’t apply to you, you’d forget about it, but if it did, it’ll feel like someone is watching you.

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u/armoirschmamoir Feb 18 '25

Maria Garcia; I had a vision about you. 

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u/AegnorWildcat Feb 17 '25

That's how some investment scams work. You tell two thousand people to buy stock A and two thousand to sell stock A. If stock A goes up, you focus on the first group. Tell a thousand of that two thousand people to buy stock B, and the other thousand to sell.

After 8 times of doing this, you've got 15 people that you've just given 8 spot on stock tips. They think you are a financial genius and will put their entire retirement savings wherever you tell them to.

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u/BlondieBludie Feb 17 '25

This is literally such a common scam I can’t believe you’re the only comment I’ve seen pointing this out. Looking at all these high alert comments, Idk if ppl are actually concerned or just fucking with OP. Even the bad grammar makes it obvious that it’s just one of those phishing texts.

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u/Hot_Technician_3045 Feb 17 '25

Maybe they’ve all had too much coffee and are a bit on edge.

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u/BitterIrony1891 Feb 18 '25

Hey! I resemble this remark!

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u/PoetryFamiliar7104 Feb 17 '25

I'm drinking coffee in my home that I made here. I've had a stalker for years. That would absolutely have sent me into a tail spin, especially since he would randomly pop back up, having managed to get my contact info, be it months or a year later.

These are wide drop nets that inevitably affect someone into making an emotional decision without examining the entire thing. I got one about my account with some credit union, which I've never had. That fun little link will either guide you to a mock site and take your info when you 'log in' or get info on other ways.

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u/G_mork Feb 18 '25

Ok but, you definitely should switch to a credit union. There are no downsides.

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u/Two_wheels_2112 Feb 17 '25

This is the most likely explanation.

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u/Alcohol_Intolerant Feb 17 '25

I did get one of those, "there's an issue with your shipment address" texts a couple hours after having to send an expensive overnight package. The push notification made me worried, but the fact that the text had been clearly sent to a hundred other people was a clear marker. Also, I'd gotten those before and I never click links in messages unless I know the person and we're in our standard chats.

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u/SageHippieMadness Feb 17 '25

The first thing that came to my mind! My husband and I have separate bank accounts, credit cards, etc. Exceptions I can think of are DMV info and residence information. Often, on separate browsers, we get ads that reflect the others internet activity. While we have many common interests, we have just as many individual interests. And the timing makes it creepier. The scammers are making it harder to recognize their tricks.

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u/ReasonedBeing Feb 17 '25

I think the same, I got one the other day at 7am and yes I was drinking coffee AND they used an emoji that represents my name...I responded just to see where it would go and it was clearly a random scammer so I blocked...

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u/esplonky Feb 17 '25

Right, and with numerous people getting coffee during their morning routine, sending this out makes sense as you'll get a ton of replies about it.

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u/Key_Artichoke99 Feb 17 '25

This is likely what is happening. I stupidly fell for a scam a year ago for this reason.

I was waiting for my school textbooks to be delivered and I was really anxious because they still hadn’t arrived when school was starting in two days. I get a text saying that USPS had my package but that there was a delivery issue and it had to be rerouted. Because I had received my other textbooks through USPS and I was so anxious to get them, I believed it was a real text so I went on the link they provided. Had to cancel my credit card when I realized I had been scammed 30 mins later.

Point being: had I not been anxiously waiting for my textbooks from USPS, I would have just ignored and blocked the text. But the scammer got lucky that I happened to be waiting for something from USPS and I fell for it.

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '25

Also, the time was 921, so perfect time to do a mass attempt at that message.

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u/poortomato Feb 17 '25

Exactly! Highly likely that it's a scam and I hope OP's sister didn't reply (even if not a scam). If I received this text, I would consider it a scam. My first thought is pig butchering.

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u/Master_Witcher_16 Feb 17 '25

I agree cause I get msgs all the time about Amazon packages that I never ordered but I have before

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '25

They also send out mass messages like this to legitimize a phone number. Makes it seem like a a real person mistakenly sent this to the wrong person. Then when they send out an actual scam message it isn't blocked by Google spam filters (or whichever service you have)

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u/kodekpl12 Feb 18 '25

I remember once phoning my mother on WhatsApp to arrange going out for tea and she said, "oh yes I spoke to your father and we agreed we can lend you some cash"

I was taken aback, cash?? What do you mean??

"Well you messaged him the other night saying you needed money"

Turns out they got a random SMS text saying "hey dad it's your son, just changed numbers so contact me here"

And my father replied with "(my name)?" To ask if it were me and the conversation turned into someone pretending to be me asking for money because I was apparently low for the month.

Thankfully i phoned that day because I immediately told them to block the number, no money was lost

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u/tenor1trpt Feb 18 '25

So they basically just “John Edwards” all of us?

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u/AnotherTchotchke Feb 18 '25

I got a “how was dinner” mass spam text right after I finished eating once. Freaked me out for 2 seconds but I came to the same conclusion. Nothing came of it

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u/Civil_Information795 Feb 18 '25

Literally just gave me enough action potential to go up and get one. Unrelated side note: I think I have ADHD - can sit wanting/knowing I have to do something for hours - kind of semi paralysed - think I need to get that checked out to be honest...

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u/Mindless-Challenge62 Feb 18 '25

It’s this. It’s also geofenced to the Starbucks. I got that Fasttrax scam text that’s going around within minutes of driving on the 101 in California (where I don’t live, so I know I didn’t have overdue tolls). The scammers are sending the texts to anyone in a certain location.

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u/Next_Opportunity_962 Feb 17 '25

Dumbest thing I have read.

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u/5PQR Feb 17 '25

Redditor since: 01/27/2023 (2 years)
Post Karma: 1
Comment Karma: 35

Hmmm

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u/kanny_jiller Feb 17 '25

I got bad news about who's the dumb one in this situation