A spam text message appeared from myself

Greetings Billyeee,

I JUST had this happen as well - 3/28/2022. I am blown away at this, as I don't understand how this is possible either. It says it came in as a "text message", and it is SPAM. I typically text myself things to remember, so I already have a text chain with items on the right side (that I send to myself) and then the same item on the left (which is the message I received). For this, it is only on the left - which is strange AND more importantly concerning!

I want to figure this out quickly as it seems like it is FROM MY CELL number (since it is labeled as "text message" - and is not an imessage).

The timing is VERY ironic, that you just posted this as well. Looks like some cell phone spoofing is underway.

Any help would be appreciated - thanks,

DaveR

Exact same occurrence happened to me 3/28/2022:

"Free Msg: Your bill is paid for March. Thanks, here's a little gift for you; (tiny URL follows)"

Below the text a note "Not shown in Shared with you"

Very curious.

And this from Apple:

Thank you for reporting a suspected phishing email to Apple. This message was automatically generated in response to your report to let you know that we received it. Please don’t reply to this message. 

If you think you might have entered personal information like a password or credit card info on a scam website, immediately change your Apple ID password.

Scammers use any means they can—fake emails, pop-up ads, text messages, even phone calls—to try to trick you into sharing your information, like your Apple ID password or credit card number.

To help protect your personal information, use two-factor authentication for your Apple ID, and never share your Apple ID password or temporary verification codes with anyone.

Learn more about security and your Apple ID.

Learn how to protect yourself from phishing and other scams.

I received that exact message today, too! 3/28/22 at 10:21 AM CST

Free Msg: Your bill is paid for March. Thanks, here's a little gift for you: gmec37.xyz/S8Pp9e3E7W

It shows that it’s from myself and it says “Not shown in shared with you” below

I can see all the texts I’ve sent myself before above.

Maybe Russian spam effort as some reported the link takes you to Russian TV broadcast. I’m tired of spam, why are we the ones that are left to figure this out?

Verizon has a thread on this and their support responded that it’s aware of the issue and that it’s spoofing that they have notified the FCC about. They recommended that we complain to FCC and provided the link to the complaint page. I provided the long url below. They also recommend their spam filtering but not clear how to filter your own phone #. Below is a screen shot of their response. Maybe check with your carrier for same? Best wishes to all and stay safe! -Sean

https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

It's done via SMS spoofing. The sender can spoof both the phone number and/or email address of the sent message.

While I have yet to get a message spoofing my own phone number, I've gotten plenty of spam emails sent from "myself".

I got a spam text from my own contact as well right at 6:21am (9 minutes again!)!!! I opened up the contact and it has everything that on my own contact - Addresses, emails, birthday, etc… even my contact photo! Did our accounts get hacked???

Here is a screenshot of my message I received:

[Edited by Moderator]

Same just happened to me - 3/28/2022 - 10:36AM EST. Following thread to see if anyone knows how this spoofing is happening. Guessing someone is SMS spoofing and sending messages to/from same # to confuse people into opening the link.

I received the same exact message and am here now seeking advice as to whether I need to do anything. I didn't click the link and just erased the message, but I'm worried about how this text came in as a text from ME!?

Exact same message here on my wife’s phone. Never seen this before and can’t really explain it… spam text “from” her and sent to herself.

Could it just be a coincidence? Someone spoofing her phone number and spamming a range of numbers, one of which happens to be hers?

Possibly of interest: opening that URL on a test mule brings me to themoscowtimes.com via a redirect from flagshipsteak.com. So it goes as follows:

* refp34.xyz

* flagshipsteak.com

* takeoneforlove.com

* themoscowtimes.com

What the **** is going on here?

Yeah, this is very strange that it all went around in the last 24 hours. I got one as well just now...

Trying to decide if this is harmless spoofing from someone that knows my phone number only (from a spam list) or something worse...

Another victim here. Thought I'd seen it all, but this approach of spoofing my own # is new to me.

Could an expert please confirm my understanding:

1 - Spoofing my number means that they can only Send a message from my number. They cannot receive replies sent to my number. Right??

2 - Is there any way to know if in addition to my number, they have my name? Or is that only likely/possible *IF* I were to click the link and provide it to them? (which I have NOT done) In other words, is it possible that they could impersonate me by name, AND send a message to others? For example, send a text to someone else, and invoke my name to legitimize that the message is really from me.

The latter is the biggest worry I have. If this scenario is possible, I'd immediately alert my contacts to warn them.

I received this message too as did my mother. When she clicked on it, it led to a Russian website! (she closed the page before it could fully load) I think this may be a part of a Russian cyberattack so hopefully, we haven't been compromised.

Same happened with me this morning, Apple support recommended changing my Apple ID password , and sent a link about phishing. The page advised me to email a screenshot of the text and “contact info” to: reportphishing@apple.com

SMS spoofing can change the name and mobile number of the original sender. This means that you as a receiver can't know who the original sender of the text is. Although there are many good reasons for SMS spoofing, many scammers are using the technique to take advantage of unsuspecting individuals.

https://calleridreputation.com › blog

SMS Spoofing Scams Target Reputable Organizations

That being said, can someone send a text from your number? Absolutely. There are many ways to spoof the outbound number, both for a call and a text. Most VoIP providers allow the user to set their outbound ID.

https://www.quora.com › Can-some...

Can someone use my name and phone number to send a text to ...