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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/b5wolf on 2026-01-15 17:39:51+00:00.
So a few months ago, my best friend was going through a really rough time and asked me to check in with him daily, just kinda a mental health check and to keep him grounded. We agreed that every night at 730, I would call. We talk for about 15 to 30 min about everything and nothing and we still text randomly through the day, especially sharing funny videos. We've been doing this since Sept and I even have an alarm set on my phone to make sure I don't miss any calls.
Last night, around 530, I got one of those scam texts that says "Hey, Verizon is down. Please save this new work number" and it was signed by a name that in retrospect, is only 1 letter off from his name but completely changed the name at the same time. Think Kim and Tim. Of course, I follow the Scam subreddit and am familiar with the Wrong Number text. I thought that was this, laughed that someone thought I would fall for it and moved on.
At 7:30, I tried calling my friend. The call would drop without connecting to his voicemail. I texted several times. No response. Started to get worried as this is an expected call and he's always let me know prior to 7:30 if he won't be available for our nightly chat. He's also been having some minor physical issues that could cause an accident so I reached out to his girlfriend to check on him (She lives within 5 min of him, I'm an hour away).
Turns out, he was fine. The original Scammer text was him, it just changed his name. He was letting me know his personal phone wasn't working. He didn't call me because this outage was causing some major chaos at work. His girlfriend showed up at his house in the middle of all of this, out of her mind with worry, because I sent her on a wild goose chase.
TL:DR Thought my best friend was a scammer and sent out an SOS/Mayday that was completely unnecessary