My alter Ego is George

[Tree Frog]

Did you know "millions of fans grief in shock after loosing Dr. Oz"? "Viewers cried while saying goodbye to their beloved Dr." I guess George was one of the fans.

Apparently George has some real struggles! He was offered "10 Brain Pill samples," a "reverse of Type-2", and so many CBD pills to help his inability to "keep it up". He just can't seem to "keep his gal happy'. Apparently, he's also looking to move because he looked at the "MLS listing for 4306 Waikiki Dr." He purchased "an iPhone 13" he wants to return to Best Buy, but hasn't "updated his address" yet, so the "return" can't go through. 

He also has the opportunity to earn either "500 USD a day", "$455 TONIGHT", or "$426 TONIGHT"! I wonder which he will choose? 

I can see all this without opening any of the messages. Some of the messages are quite crude.

I used to get 1 or 2 spam text messages monthly. Since December, I've been receiving 5-6 per day. Verizon does a good job of detecting them, but I receive a notification every time they do. I'm afraid if I reply 'stop' to all the messages, it will just tell the spammers they found a live phone number and cause me further problems. How on earth do I stop these? Please help!

And if you have funny spam messages, feel free to tell us about them. I think there's got to be a story about George or your alter ego here somewhere!

Edited January 27, 2022 by Tree Frog
needed to add more quote marks

[Jean in Newcastle]

You can block numbers on your phone.  It doesn't mean that they won't use other numbers but over time it will get less. 

[athena1277]

I’ve had more problems with spam texts recently too.  Apparently I pay my phone bill 3x’s a month, so I’m getting a free gift each time!

Edited January 27, 2022 by athena1277
Typo

[Tree Frog]

1 hour ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

You can block numbers on your phone.  It doesn't mean that they won't use other numbers but over time it will get less. 

That's what I've been doing when Verizon doesn't block it for me. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked.

[kirstenhill]

A year or so ago I started receiving a spam text every day (from a different number each day) that always started "Hey Johnny! We've checked your records and you are qualified for $xxx today.  Apply at this link!"  And the amount was different each day.  After religiously marking them as SPAM every day for weeks, Google Fi finally got better about directing the messages directly to spam, though I still get a notification that a message was moved to spam.  They stopped for several months and just started again. 

[mellifera33]

When I have time and I'm feeling ornery, I take out my frustrations on spam calls and texts. I haven't noticed an increase in calls from answering. If anything, I've seen a decrease. I think I get put on the "this lady is annoying and will waste your time--do not call" list. 

[Tree Frog]

1 hour ago, mellifera33 said:

When I have time and I'm feeling ornery, I take out my frustrations on spam calls and texts. I haven't noticed an increase in calls from answering. If anything, I've seen a decrease. I think I get put on the "this lady is annoying and will waste your time--do not call" list. 

How do you respond? Just say 'stop'? Or do you pretend to fall for the schemes?

[saraha]

I got a call just yesterday from an Arizona number. I didn’t answe it of course, but they left a very convincing voicemail that sounded like a middle aged man and he said “Hey, just wanted to let you know I’m out of jail.” I googled the number and it came up as a robocall? I hope it was since all I could picture is some guy getting out of jail after 15 years (about how long we’ve had this cell phone number) and waiting for a ride outside the prison gate!

[Tree Frog]

1 hour ago, saraha said:

I got a call just yesterday from an Arizona number. I didn’t answe it of course, but they left a very convincing voicemail that sounded like a middle aged man and he said “Hey, just wanted to let you know I’m out of jail.” I googled the number and it came up as a robocall? I hope it was since all I could picture is some guy getting out of jail after 15 years (about how long we’ve had this cell phone number) and waiting for a ride outside the prison gate!

I've had those kinds of calls, the ones that sound very realistic. My calls seem to center around my student loans and "Carol" would really like me to give her a call because there's some kind of problem. Except I don't have student loans. If I did, though, I'd be calling her right away. She sounds legit.

[mellifera33]

3 hours ago, Tree Frog said:

How do you respond? Just say 'stop'? Or do you pretend to fall for the schemes?

I play along in the dumbest way possible. For the "I'm from Apple/Microsoft and I can see you have a problem with your computer" calls I insist that I speak to the name they gave on the robocall, argue about whether I have a laptop or a desktop, or pretend I'm spelling "enter" or "return" or whatever, or if they stay on until they get to the part where they want you to connect to Anydesk I pretend I am moving the computer around the house to different desks until I find one that works. One time I read every key off my laptop to the "tech" because I just couldn't find the enter key. It's a way to kill time while waiting in line or on long drives. For the "we want your house" calls I insist that I want one meeeeeellion dollars for my 1100 sq ft house, even after they go through the market analysis. 

[Dmmetler]

I have been known to ask the "we want to talk to you about your vehicle's extended warranty what they can offer on DH's 1990 Pontiac...