While wrong number texts may look like a fun and innocent thing to laugh about, Daniel Markuson, the cybersecurity expert at NordVPN, warns that they may be a part of a sinister scam known as “smishing.”

“The most important thing is not to click on any links in the text message that looks suspicious,” Markuson reminds everyone. They may contain malware. “By replying to the text, you can make it known to the scammer that the telephone number is active. The best thing you can do is ignore the text,” the cybersecurity expert told Bored Panda.

“Victims first receive a very ordinary text message, something along the lines of ‘Let’s move the meeting to tomorrow morning.’” Markuson explained when asked how exactly scammers use the wrong number texts to scam people. Moreover, “The scammers first want to make sure that the phone number is active. They expect the victim to reply that this is the “‘wrong number.’”

After that, Markuson explained further, “they try to get to know their victim and ask a couple of questions to make the victim feel comfortable. But sooner or later, they try to persuade a person to invest in cryptocurrency, click on some links, or fill in a form.”

In rare cases, scammers even try to form a deeper relationship with their victims and then ask for money. It’s important to mention that scammers tend to target particular people. Markuson argues that “they usually target people who have less advanced technological knowledge or cybersecurity awareness - such as elders.”

“They also would try to target people who have more money, or on the contrary, lack money, so they are ready to do anything to earn some. However, most often, scammers target random people whose telephone numbers they can guess,” the cybersecurity expert explained.

For anyone who’s wondering if it’s possible that your phone has been hacked when you receive a wrong number text, Markuson says that it’s probably not the case. “The hackers will not bother to send you messages if they have already hacked your phone and have access to your information,” he concluded.