How to Respond to a Text Scammer and Report/Avoid Spam

• If you respond to a text scammer, they may send or sell your number to other scammers. Avoid clicking on suspicious links and sharing personal info.
• To scare a scammer, you could waste their time with silly responses, pretend to be an automated messenger, or resend them the messages they sent you.
• Report all text scams to the Federal Trade Commission’s Report Fraud site, filter messages from unknown numbers, and avoid opting in on company sites.

Is it wise to scare text scammers?

It’s advisable to stay away from scammers. Giving scammers a taste of their own medicine can be amusing (and occasionally humorous), but responding to their texts may cause more problems than benefits. Getting your personal information may just be a pleasant bonus. Scammers may sell your information to other groups, attracting even more unsolicited messages. A single response may be sufficient to demonstrate that your number is genuine.

Ways to Reply to a Text Scammer

Pretending to follow their scheme is a waste of their time. To spend as much of their time as possible, play along rather than going all the way and sending them money or clicking on links or anything else. Pose as though you fell for their deception, ask them questions, and create arrangements you’ll never follow through on. Just be careful not to provide any sensitive information to them!
Another way to confuse con artists is to bring absurd topics up in the conversation, such as asking them to use a secret code composed of cereal brand names.

Act as though you are an automatic messenger. Replying with a fictitious automated message is one of the most pleasant ways to put a stop to a text scammer. To really screw with their brains, you can even add a bonus by saying that they will be “billed” or “charged” for your services. You can use these amusing templates:

• “Thank you for subscribing to Random Bird Facts. Each morning you’ll receive a new cool fact about birds! You will be charged €10.”
• “You have successfully subscribed to Weird Bear Pictures of the Day! Congratulations! $20 will be billed to your account.”
• “Congratulations! You have successfully subscribed to Hilarious Knock Knock Jokes. To unsubscribe, text STOP.”
• “Hello, thank you for registering this number to Daily Inspirational Quotes. Your number will be charged 10 Pesos/day. Text C to Cancel.”
• If they try to text “STOP” or “Cancel,” try replying with a message like “Sorry, you have entered an invalid code. Please try again.”

Send them a copy and paste of their own message; it might not take up as much of their time, but it might perplex them enough for them to remove you from their list.