Possible Spam Text
I just got the following text:
>Hello, I hope you're doing well. I wanted to inquire whether you are the author of (book title)
>Reply 'STOP' for Unsubscribe.Type 'Help' for support
I'm trying to decide whether to reply or block the number. I am the author of the book they mention. I'm not sure how anyone would get my cell number. My e-books are self-published through Amazon, Draft2Digital, and itch. My physical books are available through IngramSpark. None of those should be giving out my cell number.
I looked up the number through Whitepages reverse lookup, and it says the number is "Low Spam Risk" with the description: "(number) was reported spam 1 times & was searched 8 times in 30 days by Whitepages users. The telephone number was last reported by Whitepages Reverse Phone Lookup users as Low spam risk. Low spam risk means minimal history of unsolicited or suspicious activity."
I don't want to open myself up for further spam, or for any sort of blackmail scenario (I write under a pen name, and I guess some of my books could be considered controversial). I assume if it was a representative of Amazon or one of the other e-retailers, it would identify itself as such. But the unsubscribe option implies some sort of business.
Am I being paranoid?