Information Gathering Message Scam

What is an Information Gathering scam?

On the surface this can just look like a very harmless text exchange, but depending on the severity of the scammer and their objectives, giving out any bit of information like this could lead to serious consequences in the future.

The scammer here is searching for who the victim would assume an unsolicited message came from. This will allow the scammer in the future (even maybe several months to a year from now) to come back to the victim with the guise of being who the victim revealed, in this case the name Susan.

For more information on text message scams, click here.

How can you stay safe from Information Gathering scams?

It’s best to just ignore an unsolicited message like this, however, if you’re very curious, reply back with simple replies, let them do the talking, and never give out any information.

This scam plays on our natural curiosities, which makes it difficult for us to end the conversation simply out of needing closure.