Emily Long is a freelance writer based in Salt Lake City. After graduating from Duke University, she spent several years reporting on the federal workforce for Government Executive, a publication of ...

Q: Why am I suddenly getting lots of weird, random texts from strangers asking if they know me? A: If you’re receiving vague text messages from numbers you don’t recognize saying something like, “Hi, ...

TEMPORARY LOCATIONS. IT STARTS WITH A STRANGE TEXT MESSAGE FROM SOMEONE. YOU DO NOT KNOW. IT MAY SEEM LIKE A MISTAKE, BUT IT COULD BE A LITTLE MORE SINISTER. IT COULD BE THE START OF A SCAM. WE’VE ...

THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION SAYS THE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO WILL OPEN A TEXT MESSAGE WHEN THEY RECEIVE IT IS AS HIGH AS 98%, AND THOSE ARE GOOD ODDS FOR A SCAMMER. IN FACT, I JUST GOT ONE THIS WEEK ...

Nowadays, we regularly receive dozens of these texts from unknown numbers. But these innocuous greetings often have a sinister goal. These unsolicited texts to mobile numbers are often part of ...