People in more than a dozen states are reporting that they have received disturbing text messages telling them they’ve been selected to “pick cotton” at a “plantation.”
Izellah Rainer, who attends school in Ellensburg, received two of the texts earlier this week.
The text read, “Greetings, You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 10 p.m. sharp with all your belongings. The executive slaves will come pick you up in a brown van, be prepared to be searched down upon arrival to the plantation. You are in plantation group A.”
Both numbers that texted Rainer had been disconnected by Thursday.
Rainer posted about the messages on TikTok, where others commented they had received similar messages.
Similar text messages have been reported nationwide, including in Georgia, Virginia, Ohio, and North Carolina. Victims as young as 13 have received them.
KIRO 7 has tracked reports in more than a dozen states so far.
Cybersecurity expert Dave Henderson, the CEO of CyberStreams, said he doubts the individuals who received the text messages will be able to trace the numbers back to those responsible.
“Even a moderately skilled hacker, to be able to send a text message and have it look like a different phone numbers, pretty simple,” he said.
Henderson said bad actors are easily able to obtain personal information on the dark web.
“Pretty much everything about you is available on the dark web,” he said. “Your social security number, your age, your demographic, income, address histories. It is all out there.”
It’s not clear who is behind the messages.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the FBI confirmed the bureau was aware of the messages and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter.
“As always, we encourage members of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement authorities,” the statement said.