Weird Coffee Invitation Text Circulating In Eastern Iowa Isn’t Legit

They'll try anything at this point.

The actual audacity scammers get is nothing short of incredible. Recently, I got a text that the FTC has warned about in recent months.

The text looked like this:

It seems perfectly legit, right? We would probably assume we know this person but their number slipped off our radar, prompting us to respond with something like 'Hey, sorry I don't have your number saved, who is this?' Or simply 'You've got the wrong number'.

But 646 is a Manhattan area code. I couldn't think of anyone who would reach out to me to get coffee from NYC.

What The Scam Does

The text is more than likely not a legit coffee invitation. It's a test to see if your phone number is a working one. Bonus points for them if they can keep the conversation going with you. Then, they may try to pitch some kind of crypto thing.

Here's what the FTC recommends doing if you get one of these coffee texts:

• Don't respond to unexpected texts from unknown phone numbers
• Don't click on links in unexpected texts

Copy and forward the shady text to 7726 (SPAM) to help your wireless provider find and block similar messages in the future.

Weirdly, most of the scammy texts have been coffee-focused. But some may ask you to verify what your name is like 'Is this Lisa?'.

If you get one of those texts and you're not sure who it could be, your best idea is to not respond to it. And if you know it's your ex, definitely don't respond to it.