Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the wp-plugin-hostgator domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114

Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the ol-scrapes domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/functions.php:6114) in /home4/scienrds/scienceandnerds/wp-includes/rest-api/class-wp-rest-server.php on line 1893
{"id":2519,"date":"2022-03-29T14:54:53","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T14:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/29\/my-own-phone-number-is-now-spam-texting-me\/"},"modified":"2022-03-29T14:54:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T14:54:54","slug":"my-own-phone-number-is-now-spam-texting-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/29\/my-own-phone-number-is-now-spam-texting-me\/","title":{"rendered":"My own phone number is now spam texting me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/3\/28\/22999719\/spam-texts-own-phone-number-verizon-att-tmobile<\/a>
\n
<\/br><\/code><\/p>\n

\n

This morning, I received a very blatant spam text offering me \u201ca little gift\u201d for supposedly paying my phone bill. Normally I\u2019d groan, roll my eyes, and quickly delete such a thing, but there was something different about this particular message: it was spoofed as coming from my own phone number. As best my iPhone could tell, it was a legitimate message from me to myself. Tapping into the sender details took me to my own contact card.<\/p>\n

Equally frustrating was that I had no obvious way of reporting the alarming spoof to my carrier, Verizon Wireless. Spoofed calls and texts are nothing new; most people face a constant deluge of spam calls that appear on caller ID as from a number similar to their own. But this was the first time I actually got something from my<\/em> own number. These scammers keep getting more sophisticated.<\/p>\n

Turns out I wasn\u2019t alone. Many customers on Verizon have reported getting similar spam<\/a> from their respective numbers over the last few days \u2014 same for its MVNO Visible<\/a> \u2014 and several Verge<\/em> employees on other carriers have also encountered them. I posted an Instagram story about it and have gotten plenty of \u201csame\u201d responses. SMS phishing, or \u201csmishing,\u201d has been on the rise<\/a> in recent years, but there\u2019s something more disconcerting and invasive about it being linked to your own number. It\u2019s all very \u201cthe call is coming from inside the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main reaction on Twitter<\/a> is confusion and \u201chow?!\u201d Again, this is all spoofing and technological impersonation. It\u2019s trivially easy for spammers to camouflage as any number they choose. My Verizon account is secure, and my number hasn\u2019t been hijacked. If you\u2019ve gotten the same message, there\u2019s no cause for panic. I\u2019d advise against clicking the link included with the message, though I did exactly that for investigative purposes. The link I received forwarded me to the website of Channel One Russia, a state TV network. Others have reported similar results and say they\u2019re redirected to Russian websites when they click the link. I\u2019ve asked Verizon for comment, as many companies are currently on high alert for cyber attacks amid Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

It often feels like the phone carriers are losing the war against scammers. I don\u2019t envy having to contend with the sheer volume of spam attacks that come across their networks daily, but this is getting out of hand. I\u2019ve noticed an uptick in general SMS spam over the last several weeks. And as Alex Lanstein noted on Twitter, this particular message contains several phrases \u2014 \u201cfree msg,\u201d \u201cbill is paid,\u201d \u201cgift\u201d \u2014 that one assumes would be flagged by Verizon\u2019s spam protection systems. And yet it came through successfully. And since this one showed as coming from me, the text also successfully evaded Apple\u2019s \u201cfilter unknown messages\u201d feature.<\/p>\n

So what can be done? In addition to offering various measures of spam protection<\/a>, Verizon and other US carriers encourage customers to forward spam texts to SPAM (7726). Some people might have pause about reporting spam \u201cfrom\u201d their own number, though. I\u2019ve asked Verizon about what happens in that situation.<\/p>\n