“Wrong number” text scam: the friendly stranger with a crypto tip

A stray “Hi, is this Jessica?” text is often the opening move of a crypto-investment (“pig butchering”) scam. Here’s how it works — and how to check any platform link free.

What’s happening

It starts with a text that looks like a genuine mistake — “Hey, are we still on for lunch?”, “Hi David, this is Amy from the gym.” The FBI, FTC and state police have all warned about these “wrong number” openers, which are the first step of a crypto-investment scam sometimes called “pig butchering.”

If you reply, the friendly stranger strikes up a warm, weeks-long chat and eventually mentions how much they’ve made trading crypto — then guides you to a slick “investment platform” or app that shows fake profits to lure bigger deposits. When you try to withdraw, you’re hit with “taxes” or “fees,” and eventually the site and the person vanish with everything.

No real stranger reaches you by accident and then teaches you to get rich on crypto. If someone has sent you a link to a trading platform, exchange or wallet, don’t deposit a cent — paste the link for an instant risk score first, and only ever use well-known exchanges you found yourself.