Is it possible this is what happened?

https://abcnews.go.com/Lifesty...uliar-texts-66837117

People puzzled by peculiar texts, and no one can say why

If you woke up Thursday to a weird text that seemed totally out of place, you aren't alone

By TALI ARBEL AP Technology Writer
November 7, 2019, 8:03 PM

If you woke up Thursday to a weird text that seemed totally out of place, you aren't alone. A mysterious wave of missives swept America's phones overnight, delivering largely unintelligible messages from friends, family and the occasional ex.

Friends who hadn't talked to each other in months were jolted into chatting. Others briefly panicked.


The best explanation seems to be that old texts sent in the spring suddenly went through. Two people said they figured out the original messages were never received. It's not clear why this months-long delay happened. Phone companies blamed others and offered no further explanations.

Stephanie Bovee, a 28-year-old from Portland, woke up at 5 a.m. to a text from her sister that said just "omg." She immediately thought something had happened to her newborn nephew at the hospital.

She started calling everyone. Her sister and her sister's husband didn't answer. She woke up her mom, freaking her out. It was three hours before she learned that everything was fine and the text was an odd anomaly.

"Now it's funny," she said. "But out of context, it was not cool."

Bovee figured out that people were getting some of her old texts that failed to go through when her sister and a co-worker both got texts that she had sent in February. The text her sister received wished her a happy Valentine's Day.

Mobile carriers offered unhelpful explanations for the weird-text phenomenon, which appeared to be widespread, at least according to social media.

A Sprint spokeswoman said it resulted from a "maintenance update" for messaging platforms at multiple U.S. carriers and would not explain further. T-Mobile called it a "third party vendor issue." Verizon and AT&T did not answer questions.

Marissa Figueroa, a 25-year-old from California, got an unwanted message from an ex she had stopped talking to — and then he got one from her as well. Neither actually sent them last night, both said. Figueroa couldn't figure it out, even worrying that her ex was messing with her, until she saw reports of this happening to others.

"It didn't feel great," she said. "It just was not good for me and my mental health to be in contact with him."

A friend who'd just re-entered his life got a mystifying message from Joseph Gomez at 5:32 a.m. Thursday. In that text, Gomez seemed to assume she was on her way over to his house so they could order a Lyft.

It took a half hour of back-and-forth texting and help from a screenshot to clear up the situation. Can their relationship recover? Gomez, 22, said it was "confusion, then awkward, and then funny." No mixed messages there.

quote:

Originally posted by TigerDore:

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Ignore it and block the number.

This, emphatically. There is no reason for a married man to reach out to a married woman with whom he once had a romantic interest as an adult.

Ignore it at minimum, but I would block it too.

Best advice. I won't tell you how I know -- avoiding thread hijack -- but do this. Now.

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:
I don't want to be alarmist, or dismissive, so I'm asking the opinion of the smartest collective of people I "know" - SigForum.

My wife and I have been married 13+ years and have 4 kids together - I trust her 200%, and vice versa. This morning, she received a text on her cell phone from a guy she was friends with in college (20 or 21 years ago), and they casually went out a few times. She said she was never really into him, and she felt like he was somewhat on the "persistent side", in spite of her declining his advances to get more serious.

She married someone else right after college, and this guy looked her up then, called her to ask if she was happy, and seemed to go away. She obviously ended up divorcing her first husband (serial cheater), and a couple years later this guy looked her up again and tried inviting himself into her life. She declined again - she still wasn't into him, she was starting to feel a little weirded out, and he was married. He may have already been married the first time he called her, also.

She hasn't heard from him since (15 years +/-), but received a text from a number she doesn't know this morning, asking if it was her (by maiden name). We looked up the number, and when she saw the name, she said "oh my gosh this guy is some kind of stalker", then explained everything to me.

I showed her that all someone had to do was Google her maiden name, and various websites will show possible results; in this case it shows her now married name (my last name), in a different city, with several different possible phone numbers. Her cell number used to be our land line number, so it shows up with our address. Maybe he texted several numbers hoping to hear back?

She's not sure if she should; 1) just ignore it, 2) text back - "happily married with children, please stop looking me up and contacting me", or 3) have me call to pleasantly explain that she's uncomfortable that he keeps trying to get into her life.

I'm not sure if this is a normal pattern of behavior for some people of a different stripe (I wouldn't personally do this), or a possible/likely mark of a weirdo. This guy seems to have had a fairly successful military career for 20+ years, so I want to think he's a cut above the average Joe, and maybe just thinks highly enough of my wife to throw out a hopeful feeler in hopes that things might work out this time. She is a wonderful person, and if I had dated her years ago, she'd still come to mind with fond recollection, also.

What say the great minds of SigForum?

I’m going to get tacky and say text him pics of mens twig and giggle berries and tell him you’re her and had a sex change. Sure would chase me away if I were trying to renew interest in an old flame (even if the flame was one sided).

quote:

Originally posted by 10X-Shooter:
I’m going to get tacky and say text him pics of mens twig and giggle berries and tell him you’re her and had a sex change. Sure would chase me away if I were trying to renew interest in an old flame (even if the flame was one sided).

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
3 times in 20 years is not stalking, sorry. My assessment is based on the fact that when he reached out in the past and was told she wasn't interested the guy went away for years at a time. I think ignoring him is potentially worse as it may cause him to keep trying to find her, perhaps innocently in his mind, only to make him seem more stalkerish.

If she doesn't feel comfortable replying then I think the OP should. Just call him, let him know that his inquiries are making the lady uncomfortable and that any future contact will be assumed to be hostile now that he knows definitively that he is not welcome.

The dude sounds like a hopeless romantic who pines for the unrequited love of his life. Everyone who fails to understand social norms is not potentially lethal.

Shit. It pains me to say......I agree. I am usually rabidly 180 degrees from this on personal security issues, but 3 times isn't stalking or anything even close.

For good reason, we've become hypersensitive to our personal security. But, minus more information that reads this guy out to be Hannibal Lector, I agree with the above.

I guess I'm in the minority who think that 3 times in 20 years is not a stalker. But it IS concerning. That stated, I'd ignore it. If he texts again, something like "thanks for reaching out but I have zero interest in getting back in touch in any way." Block that number. If he persists and fins an alternate to get in touch, than you have to escalate.

Man if you get intimidated with three texts over a long period of time I feel sorry for YOU.
Seriously?

I’ve had numerous old flames that when we finished our time together, we were still friends. I’ve always wondered how their doing.
I’d like to call some of them sometime. Does that make me a weirdo?

I’ve had ex-girlfriends reach out to me 35 years later and always found it creepy. I’ve no desire to “catch up”. YMMV.

I recently heard a comic with a bit that was so true.

> Some one rings the doorbell and we panic!

It used be we simply went to the door and answered it.
Now we shit our pants and call 911.

I guess times are changed and no so much for the better.

I call this type of behavior "facebook" and nothing about it strikes me as odd or alarming.

Except 1) she's not on Fakebook, 2) she's declined him the last 2 times he tracked her down outta the blue (without Fakebook), and he's done it a third time now, plus she's married and has a different last name. How many times does a girl need to say no to the same guy before it's considered weird in your book? And smschulz, I'm not a pant-shitter, so no need to "feel sorry for me", pal.

quote:

1) she's not on Fakebook

Same concept.

quote:

2) she's declined him the last 2 times he tracked her down outta the blue

There's a big difference between "declining", and "warning him to make no further contact". Granted it's been a few years, but I had several women decline date offers from me who later accepted.

Imagine you're at a restaurant and your drink is almost empty. The server asks if you need a refill and you say "no thanks". What are the odds that he's going to ask you yet again the next time he's around? Now, tell that waiter to screw off and never ask again, and I bet he won't ask anymore.

quote:

How many times does a girl need to say no to the same guy before it's considered weird in your book?

A lot more than 3 in 15 years. Having been in the club business I've seen guys ask many more times than that over the course of a few hours. It's not the number of times, it's the behavior. And so far, you haven't indicated any abnormal behavior. He reaches out, she says no thanks, he goes away for years at a time.

There's nothing weird (from a should I be concerned standpoint) about that.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:


The dude sounds like a hopeless romantic who pines for the unrequited love of his life.

This was my first thought when I read the OPs first post.
I know a couple of guys that fit the concept to a T. They have never been violent been have but never give up hope on the "love of their life."
Over 60 years for one and 50+ years for 2 others.

Port the number to google voice and get a burner.

a1adbj - fair enough, thanks for your perspective. I could toss a coin on this one, and don't disagree that he's not necessarily a freakazoid. Just want to be safe, and it's not impossible that he's a weirdo, either, considering.

With the choices you offer I would go with 2) text back - "happily married with children, please stop looking me up and contacting me" If he really seemed like a stalker I would say absolutely no contact but this doesn't have that feel. It seems like a guy who is not currently in a relationship and lonely.

I don't think this guy is a stalker. Sure he looked her up but from what you said he went away before when she said she wasn't interested. Three times in over 15 years doesn't sound like stalking.

quote:

Originally posted by Keystoner:
Give him the benefit of the doubt. Your wife can have a normal conversation with him. A lot of maturity can happen after 15 years.

This is flat out wrong. Very bad advice.

I did quite a bit of work and research on stalking in the 90s. There are a few schools of thought on action/inaction to be taken. For the sake of legal action, we've found there needs to be ONE and ONLY ONE communication sent stating unequivably there is no interest and a strong request not to be contacted again.

On the flip side, that confirms that he has the right number and if he is one who cannot be easily disuaded, will exacerbate the problem.

That can depend on if there have been some consquences put in place for his behavior in the past and at what stage of the development of his misbehavior it occurred.

With this situation, I'd make note and not ignore. Take precautions and wait. With a second attempted communication, I'd send a strong message of disuasion and not communicate again no matter the action of the offender. That's when it's time to call the authorities and start a documentation trail.

There is help at The Stalking Victim Resource Center.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
3 times in 20 years is not stalking, sorry. My assessment is based on the fact that when he reached out in the past and was told she wasn't interested the guy went away for years at a time. I think ignoring him is potentially worse as it may cause him to keep trying to find her, perhaps innocently in his mind, only to make him seem more stalkerish.

If she doesn't feel comfortable replying then I think the OP should. Just call him, let him know that his inquiries are making the lady uncomfortable and that any future contact will be assumed to be hostile now that he knows definitively that he is not welcome.

The dude sounds like a hopeless romantic who pines for the unrequited love of his life. Everyone who fails to understand social norms is not potentially lethal.

^^^^ 100%