Some of us remember the days before caller ID when you'd answer every call and, when necessary, politely tell some that they had dialed the wrong number. Imagine a world today where you couldn't screen calls! It would be madness, but some people still answer the phone dutifully every time it rings.

Lately, that "wrong number" exchange of pleasantries has extended to text messages. We've all gotten those text messages that appear to be wrong numbers,

"Hey, you still on for dinner tonight?", 
"Haven't heard from you in a while, how are you?"

These aren't innocuous wrong numbers, though. They are crafted to gauge your likelihood to respond. Your response has value to cyber criminals because it gives them a list of targets who are more likely to engage. If they can get a response from you, they see you as more likely to fall for future scams.

Because they know you are more likely to respond, they will take extra effort to craft more believable attacks. They may also flood your text messages with more scams in hopes that you'll let your guard down momentarily. Maybe that package delivery scam will get through at the right time when you are expecting a package but aren't sure which shipping company has it. Perhaps that Social Security notice will look close enough to real to get your password or get you to install malware. 

So the next time you get one of those innocuous looking text messages that appears to be intended for someone else, just delete it. Don't engage.

Reference:
https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/threat-intel/2026/08/your-polite-reply-to-that-text-is-worth-2-on-the-dark-web