Is it ever smart to reply to texts from numbers you don’t know?

[Anonymous]

in the last couple weeks i’ve been contacted vie whatsapp by two numbers, the first just said “hi” and today the second said “Hello, If you're not busy, could I ask you something quickly?” i’m from Europe and google is saying those indicatives are from numbers from new orleans. it says “business account” the first had a todd cruz name and the second a random mix of letters. should i reply? i’ve blocked both

[purplepoppy]

Never reply. They're checking the number is attached to a real phone and person. Once they know they sell it to other scammers.

[Asker]

so if i block them they’ll know the number belongs to a real person as well, no? i’m stressing right now 😰 what do i do? how do they got my number in the first place like i don’t know anyone

[purplepoppy]

They've random number generators, what they're looking for is a response to the moment you say hello they know it's a real number. I always type the number into Google and 99% of the time it comes up as a scam

[animesenpai]

They will eventually try to get you to click a link that will send you malware.

[Anonymous]

No, at least not in my opinion.

[scooogy]

Scamming is alright, who should even want your money.