Phone messages can be both super important and super annoying, depending on the context. For example, a message asking you to confirm a doctor’s appointment you’ve been waiting for for months for is extremely important; a message sent by accident by someone you don’t know, on the other hand, is not.
For this redditor, most of the messages he received belonged to the second category, as they were usually directed at a different person – the previous number holder. The latter didn’t care much for either the important messages, like appointment confirmations, nor the arguably less significant ones, like old flames trying to rekindle the relationship. Fed up with it all, the OP only saw one way out of the situation, and that was petty revenge. Scroll down to find the full story in his own words below.
Messages can be a great way to stay in touch or a total headache, depending on the context
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This person got fed up with receiving messages that were not meant for him
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Image credits: Timur Weber / Pexels (not the actual photo)
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While many people nowadays use messaging apps, some communicate via good old SMS messages
Getting a call or a message from a person looking for someone else is not that bothersome. Until it happens again. And again. And one more time. That’s when it can become seriously annoying, and often encourage the person on the receiving end to take action; be it cursing at the sender or taking petty revenge the way the OP did.
You might be surprised to learn that the redditor was bothered with phone messages, of all things. After all, who in the world uses SMS messaging well into the 21st century? Even though many people have turned to other channels of communication, like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or Instagram, quite a few still stick with good ol’ SMS (Short Message Service) messages.
If you’re curious about what the leaders are in the world of messaging, as of April 2024, WhatsApp tops the list of the most popular mobile messenger apps worldwide (used by roughly 2000 million active users each month). It is followed by Weixin/WeChat (1,343 million monthly active users), Facebook Messenger (just over 1000 million), and Telegram (900 million) respectively. As for SMS messages – close to five billion people worldwide reportedly engage in text messaging.
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SMS messages “accidentally” sent to the wrong person are a common scam tactic
In addition to being annoying, misaddressed messages can be hazardous, too, as they are often used by scammers to trick people out of their money. Over the last few years, “accidental” text messages have become one of the most common ways to get individuals involved in crypto scams, NBC News reports.
By sending out an innocent-looking message, supposedly to someone other than the receiver, scammers try to get them to engage in a conversation. That’s when they start working on getting people involved even more and eventually investing in some shady business.
“They’re looking for engagement. As long as you respond, they can start the conversation,” Chester Wisniewski, a principal research scientist at the cybersecurity company Sophos, told NBC News. According to him, con artists usually persuade victims to take their conversation to a messaging app before convincing them to download an investment app and make certain questionable decisions. NBC News reports that roughly between the end of 2021 and mid-2022, the FBI has identified 244 victims of such crypto investment scams, adding up to a combined loss of $42.7 million dollars.
Luckily for the OP, he did not find himself involved in a crypto scam. However, he didn’t favor his situation that much, either, as after changing numbers, he was constantly bombarded by the previous holder’s—Christine’s—friends, family, and debt collectors. To put an end to it, the redditor decided to get petty revenge, which seemed to have done the trick. Fellow redditors applauded his way of getting back at the lazy number holder.
Fellow netizens shared their thoughts in the comments
Some seemingly encountered similar situations themselves
