Wrong number text scams: the stranger who wants to be your friend
A friendly text from a stranger that seems meant for someone else is often the opening of an investment or romance scam that ends in crypto losses.
The FTC calls the “wrong number” text a conversation starter. Once you reply, the sender keeps chatting, becomes a friend or more, and eventually shows you how much they make trading crypto and invites you onto an app. The app and the profits on it are fake; the money you put in is gone.
What it looks like
An example written by HARD, not a real message. Real ones change wording often.
Text from +1 (646) 555-0119
Hi Jessica, are we still on for dinner at 7? 😊 (after you reply that it’s the wrong number) Oh I’m so sorry! But you seem lovely. I’m Anna, I work in finance in New York. Maybe it was fate we met?
Check the one you got
Paste what you were sent. HARD checks it in this browser with the same rules as the Is this legit? check in its apps. Nothing you paste leaves this page.
How to tell it’s fake
“Cease communication after identifying the wrong number.”
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
- A stranger keeps talking after the mistake.
- Someone who really texted the wrong person says sorry and stops. A scammer apologises and starts a friendship.
- The conversation moves to another app.
- WhatsApp, Telegram or another chat app, often with photos of an attractive, successful person.
- Money comes up, gently.
- Their uncle’s trading tips, a crypto platform, screenshots of profits, an offer to teach you.
- The platform shows big gains you can’t withdraw.
- When you try, you’re told to pay “taxes”, “fees” or “penalties” first. The FBI describes couriers even being sent to collect cash.
If you clicked, called or paid
- Stop replying.
- Even a short reply tells the sender your number works and someone reads it. Block the number.
- If you sent money, stop sending more.
- Don’t pay any fee or tax to “unlock” a withdrawal; that is more of the same scam.
- Call your bank and the exchange you used.
- Tell your bank or the crypto exchange that sent the money that it was a scam, straight away.
- Report it with everything you have.
- To the FBI at ic3.gov: names, profile names, phone numbers, apps, bank accounts, wallet addresses and screenshots. In the US also ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and forward the first text to 7726. Outside the US: Report Fraud in the UK (reportfraud.police.uk, which replaced Action Fraud), Scamwatch in Australia, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre in Canada. Forward scam texts to 7726 in the US, UK and Canada.
- Beware of recovery offers.
- People who lost money are often contacted by someone offering to get it back for a fee. That is a second scam.
If it was your parents, read Look after your parents, and if a card number or password has gone, Breaches explains what each kind of leaked data lets criminals do.
The official way to check
- Search before you invest.
- The FBI says to search the platform’s address and look for scam reports before sending anything. A trading app recommended by a stranger you met by text is the scam.
- If you’re 60 or over in the US.
- The Justice Department’s Elder Justice Hotline, 1-833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311), helps, as the FBI’s alert says.
Someone on the phone asking for money right now? Guides has the two-step answer. More scams by name are on Is this a scam?, and new ones reach the Situation Room.
Questions
Should I reply to a wrong number text?
No. The FTC says not to text back: even a short reply confirms your number is live, and the friendly stranger is often the start of a scam. Block and delete.
Why do scammers send wrong number texts?
To start a conversation without seeming to. They build a friendship or romance over weeks, then steer you into a fake crypto or trading platform.
I invested through someone I met by a wrong number text. What now?
Stop sending money, don’t pay any fee to withdraw, call your bank or exchange, and report it to ic3.gov with every detail and screenshot you have.
Sources
Sources checked on 7 Nov 2026.
- FTC: Why it’s not rude to ignore “hi, how are you?” texts from strangers, 3 June 2024: the opener is a conversation starter that leads to crypto investment scams; don’t text back; report.
- FBI IC3: Scammers use couriers to collect cash in cryptocurrency investment scams (I-061526-PSA), 15 June 2026: unsolicited texts, fake trading apps, fake “taxes and penalties”, couriers; what to report; the Elder Justice Hotline.
- FTC Data Spotlight: Top text scams of 2024, 14 April 2025: wrong number texts that build a fake friendship, often romantic, before the investment pitch.