That text is a scam

Today, Explained

Vox

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 November 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You know those annoying scam texts offering an easy remote job? We find out how they work, why they're so ubiquitous, and the dark world behind them. This episode was produced by Peter Balonon-Rosen and Ariana Aspuru, edited by Jenny Lawton with help from Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Adriene Lilly and Brandon McFarland, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. Image credit Sebastian Kahnert/picture alliance via Getty Images. If you have a question, give us a call on 1-800-618-8545 or send us a note here. Listen to Explain It to Me ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for this show comes from Aramis fragrances.
0:04.4	Aramis is back, reintroduced for a new generation.
0:08.4	The next chapter of a legendary brand reimagined and refreshed with modern energy.
0:13.6	Now you can discover intuition by Aramis, a bold new fragrance for men.
0:19.2	Be bold, be magnetic, be unstoppable.
0:22.9	Be like global ambassador Dwayne Wade,
0:25.5	who captures the enduring spirit of Aramis.
0:29.1	Intuition by Aramis.
0:31.2	Available at Alta, Macy's, and department stores nationwide.
0:35.9	Ask yourself and listen. It's intuition.
0:40.3	Support for this show comes from OnePassword. If you're an IT or security pro, managing devices,
0:51.3	identities, and applications can feel overwhelming and risky.
0:55.9	Trellica by OnePassword helps conquer SaaS sprawl and Shadow IT by discovering every app your team uses,
1:03.1	managed or not. Take the first step to better security for your team. Learn more at OnePassword.com
1:10.5	slash podcast offer. That's OnePassword.com
1:15.0	slash podcast offer, all lowercase.
1:21.2	Hex spam around jaw. Two or three a day. The red flag starts showing up.
1:31.8	For Alex Salmon, it was just a normal day.
1:35.0	Until he got the text.
1:40.0	I've been getting these texts basically every day, maybe every couple hours.
1:41.9	And yeah, I got one.
1:43.9	It was a group text, actually. It was a handful of numbers with Filipino country codes.
	...

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