Sofia had recently changed her phone number because she was tired of receiving countless spam calls a day. It felt like every time she answered a call it would be someone on the other line saying “There has been suspicious activity in your bank account. Please give us the details of your account.” She always sighed wondering if this trick worked on anyone. Last week, after receiving five spam calls in one day, she went to her phone carrier and asked to have her number changed. Just like that, the spam calls were over and life could go back to normal.
Unfortunately, the universe had other plans for her. Almost immediately after Sofia left the phone store, she received a text message which was pages long. In the text, the person wrote that she had been fighting with her husband and was worried that he was cheating on her. Sofia wrote back “Sorry, I think you have the wrong number.” Then, not even 30 minutes later, she received another text which was from a young boy describing how he was being bullied in school. Again, Sofia sent the same response. Moments later, a third text came in from a woman describing being very stressed at work. This time, Sofia replied “Who are you trying to contact?”. The woman replied “Dr. Sammy Johnson. Is this the wrong number?”
Sofia opened her browser and typed that name followed by the city she lived in. There were countless articles. Apparently Dr. Johnson was one of the most influential therapists in her area and has helped more than 500 patients in her career. Unfortunately, Dr. Johnson died a few months ago. Perhaps that’s why her number was given away. Sofia was left in a strange position: the easiest solution would be to go back to the phone store and ask to have her number changed again. Yet, on the other hand, there were countless people who still needed help and Sofia loved to give her friends advice.
- Do you receive a lot of spam phone calls? How do you deal with them?