Text service says it shut down accounts allegedly behind racist messages
Source: ABC News
November 8, 2024, 4:45 PM
A text messaging service said Friday that it discovered "one or more" of its users allegedly sent out racist text messages to phone numbers across the country and that the service quickly shut down the accounts.
A representative from TextNow, a mobile provider that allows people to create phone numbers for free, told ABC News that the company was cooperating with law enforcement and condemned the vile messages that were sent to users this week.
The texts, which tell the user they're going to be taken to a plantation to "pick cotton," have been reported in at least 14 states and primarily appeared to target Black users from teenagers to adults, according to investigators in several states. The messages address the recipients by name.
The TextNow representative said once the accounts that were allegedly behind the texts were reported, their teams disabled the accounts in less than an hour. "As part of our investigation into these messages, we learned they have been sent through multiple carriers across the US and we are working with partners and law enforcement cooperatively to investigate this attack," the representative said in a statement.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/text-service-shut-accounts-allegedly-racist-texts/story?id=115619141
barbtries
(29,901 posts)is probably looking for a job in TCFSF's administration. kingdom.
is probably looking for a job in TCFSF's administration. kingdom. [cross out] Circus
LiberalArkie
(16,583 posts)You know that name, race and phone numbers are not things easily matched. Maybe medical?
intheflow
(28,997 posts)They could have used zip codes for approximation. But, yeah. Even that is a stretch.
yardwork
(64,614 posts)The university where I work responded very strongly, with email messages to all staff. They mentioned that students at other universities had been targeted.
The message I saw quoted read like it was written by a Russian.
LiberalArkie
(16,583 posts)yardwork
(64,614 posts)Could be anything, really.
What's concerning is that it's a sign of how easy this is to do.