What Happens If You Reply To A Spam Text?

Spam is running rampant. Our smartphones, email inboxes, and social media message boxes are groaning under its weight, with spammers and other fraudsters developing more sophisticated techniques to lure unsuspecting victims. These include text scams, with the Federal Trade Commission noting that some of the most common text scams of 2024 were alleged job offers and phony notices of attempted package deliveries. These are less than subtle, but one of the more insidious examples is the "wrong number" routine. 

The United States Senate Federal Credit Union reports that a simple "Hi, how are you doing?" text message can have wide-ranging and long-lasting consequences. It may seem like a harmless conversation starter, but receiving such a message from an unknown number can be very dangerous. The tricky thing about these texts is that they can look like a simple case of a message sent to the wrong number, and this can be the case. If you're dealing with a spammer, though, responding will make it clear that the receiving telephone number is in use. Not only this, but it also reveals that the owner (depending on how they respond) is amiable and has opened a dialogue. This can be all they need to continue the spam text message offensive.

There doesn't appear to be any need to be wary at first. The more overt email scams are immediately obvious from a mile away, such as thousand-dollar prizes from competitions you never entered. A receiver may not be as inclined to sense danger in the air when it's a spam text that's simply a greeting, though. Wrong number calls aren't exactly rare, after all, and you'll typically respond by explaining that you aren't the person the caller is trying to contact. 

If it's innocent, that's typically as far as the contact will go, but replying to a spam text similarly means that the spammer now has your contact information. As is so often the case with cybersecurity matters, a moment's mistake could have awful consequences. Cybersecurity provider Norton notes that the advantage for the spammer is that this information is valuable and can be sold and distributed to other spammers and bad actors. It's enough to make people unwilling to respond to any numbers they don't know. Lots don't, in fact: a 2022 survey by Transaction Network Services found that 75% of its respondents didn't pick up calls from unknown numbers. Fortunately, you don't have to fall into that trap: there are ways to identify smishing and spam texts and stop them.