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Post by alsomsknit on Feb 19, 2018 6:35:59 GMT
There is a scam that they are calling "smishing" which is similar to phishing, except via text instead of email. The scammer will obtain a cell phone number and then send a text that appears to be real, and people are more trusting of text messages than they are emails since we have all been warned about phishing for so long. They make it sound legitimate or potentially expensive to you so that you immediately respond. For example, they may send a text saying something like Welcome and thank you for signing up for xxxx service. You will be billed at $xx per month until you cancel. They would go into more detail to make it sound legitimate, of course. Since you didn't sign up for anything, you go to that website to immediately cancel your supposed account. They trick you into downloading a Trojan horse into your phone, then they can have full control of it, accessing personal information and possibly banking and credit card info. They can also look at your contacts and send a text to you that appears to be coming from one of your contacts so that you immediately trust it. Since your daughter was smart enough not to give access to her phone number by sending this text, they don't have her phone number, so she shouldn't worry about any of this. Thank you for sharing this! Had no idea. |
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Post by Really Red on Feb 19, 2018 14:16:46 GMT
I didn't say you were an idiot. The whole license plate number thing was just odd to me. I mean. everyone can see your license plate? Sorry, but you can sometimes have such condescending posts. Yes, anyone can see your license plate at anytime. But when someone comes up to your daughter with a sob story, asks her to text a random I love you text to number with no other frame of reference like, "this is Bill, I love you..".how can you NOT worry/wonder what the hell is really happening? Knowing that this person, in Missouri, asked your daughter to just test I love you to random number in Texas... I didn't need your condescending "what am I not getting." I was asking if there was some scam going on that I wasn't aware of. You sound scared. cindyupnorth was asking a perfectly reasonable question, which was one I wondered as well. Without snark. And I say this very, very gently and not meanly, but while this man was an annoyance, it was not a big deal. Your daughter rolled down her window because she's a good kid who wants to help. She now knows not to do that. Good lesson, right? Letting the campus police know there is a scammer? Also good to do. Quite frankly, anyone - ANYONE - can get your phone number by just randomly dialing, right? Your fear sounds OTT to me and it does make me wonder if you're projecting that on your daughter. A college kid getting really freaked out about that seems a bit OTT to me (I have 2 girls in college). I am honestly not saying that to be mean, but if you want everyone to agree with you, then you need to start off by saying you're venting and you realize that you may be a little freaked, but you need for everyone to just agree with you. Yes, this was weird, but unfortunately, not "MORE than weird" and a college girl shouldn't be "really freaked out," but she should be aware and now she is. I don't know how big the school is, but your DD is 22 (older than my girls) and is going to be out on her own in a few months. She should know how to handle petty annoyances like this without getting really freaked out. |
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Post by femalebusiness on Feb 19, 2018 16:35:52 GMT
You’re right to worry. It’s weird. I have no idea why he would want her number, and although it’s probably nothing, I would call the non-emergency line and alert the police to the situation. Hopefully she’s at least learned from this to never roll down her window. I taught my daughter to never, ever roll her window down for a stranger. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 19:59:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2018 17:24:39 GMT
There are so many scams out there in the big world, It's really no wonder we all get freaked out by weird things that happen. Glad she is ok!!
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Just T
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,145 
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Post by Just T on Feb 19, 2018 23:12:33 GMT
Sorry, but you can sometimes have such condescending posts. Yes, anyone can see your license plate at anytime. But when someone comes up to your daughter with a sob story, asks her to text a random I love you text to number with no other frame of reference like, "this is Bill, I love you..".how can you NOT worry/wonder what the hell is really happening? Knowing that this person, in Missouri, asked your daughter to just test I love you to random number in Texas... I didn't need your condescending "what am I not getting." I was asking if there was some scam going on that I wasn't aware of. You sound scared. cindyupnorth was asking a perfectly reasonable question, which was one I wondered as well. Without snark. And I say this very, very gently and not meanly, but while this man was an annoyance, it was not a big deal. Your daughter rolled down her window because she's a good kid who wants to help. She now knows not to do that. Good lesson, right? Letting the campus police know there is a scammer? Also good to do. Quite frankly, anyone - ANYONE - can get your phone number by just randomly dialing, right? Your fear sounds OTT to me and it does make me wonder if you're projecting that on your daughter. A college kid getting really freaked out about that seems a bit OTT to me (I have 2 girls in college). I am honestly not saying that to be mean, but if you want everyone to agree with you, then you need to start off by saying you're venting and you realize that you may be a little freaked, but you need for everyone to just agree with you. Yes, this was weird, but unfortunately, not "MORE than weird" and a college girl shouldn't be "really freaked out," but she should be aware and now she is. I don't know how big the school is, but your DD is 22 (older than my girls) and is going to be out on her own in a few months. She should know how to handle petty annoyances like this without getting really freaked out. You're right, I was scared. We live on the corridor between Kansas City and St. Louis, and my daughter's school is as well, and sex trafficking is bad through here. My daughter is most definitely NOT a gal who gets freaked out easily. Not at all. She rarely calls me for anything from school. And while she does tend to be naive, she is also very independent and savvy. I don't typically freak out about things either, and I was definitely not freaking her out. I was very calm actually and told her to call campus security to meet her at her dorm. She also called the non-emergency police line. Campus security told her she should, and so did I. I really don't consider any of that as being OTT, but we all have our opinions. I think we need to learn to trust our instincts, and clearly, this ruffled her when not much does. She definitely learned her lesson about rolling down her window for strangers. Thanks for reading and giving your thoughts and comments. I really do appreciate it! |
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