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BumRushDaShow

(143,376 posts)
Sat Nov 9, 2024, 04:42 AM Nov 9

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

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Text service says it shut down accounts allegedly behind racist messages (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Nov 9 OP
whoever it is barbtries Nov 9 #1
... roscoeroscoe Nov 9 #2
To me the main question is: where did they get the list of black peoples name and phone numbers? LiberalArkie Nov 9 #3
The article said mostly Black people. intheflow Nov 9 #4
Apparently a lot of these messages went to college students. yardwork Nov 9 #6
So leakage at probably student loan companies? LiberalArkie Nov 9 #8
Or hacking directly into university registrars offices. yardwork Nov 9 #9
That's the question I am interested in. Jack Valentino Nov 9 #10
Wow, I bet it is hard to open another account and send out the same stream of crap. 33taw Nov 9 #5
Smells fishy. live love laugh Nov 9 #7

LiberalArkie

(16,583 posts)
3. To me the main question is: where did they get the list of black peoples name and phone numbers?
Sat Nov 9, 2024, 07:45 AM
Nov 9

You know that name, race and phone numbers are not things easily matched. Maybe medical?

intheflow

(28,997 posts)
4. The article said mostly Black people.
Sat Nov 9, 2024, 08:46 AM
Nov 9

They could have used zip codes for approximation. But, yeah. Even that is a stretch.

yardwork

(64,614 posts)
6. Apparently a lot of these messages went to college students.
Sat Nov 9, 2024, 09:55 AM
Nov 9

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.

yardwork

(64,614 posts)
9. Or hacking directly into university registrars offices.
Sat Nov 9, 2024, 02:08 PM
Nov 9

Could be anything, really.

What's concerning is that it's a sign of how easy this is to do.

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