Your phone lights up again with that creepy “Hey stranger, remember me?” text from some unknown number pulling the same tired catfish script. Another fake “Amy” trying to scam or flirt her way in.
Most people just block and forget, but one Reddit savage hit their limit, hunted down the internet’s most horrifying medical image – a throbbing, angry hemorrhoid close-up – and replied, “Can’t meet up tomorrow, my a__ is in full meltdown mode.” The scammer ghosted quicker than a free buffet runs out of wings.
Redditor ends persistent scam texts by sending gruesome hemorrhoid photo.
Let’s be real: getting a random “Heyyyy it’s me from that thing” text is the modern equivalent of someone leaning over in a bar and whispering, “You look exactly like my ex.” Instant ick. What our Redditor did was weaponize that ick into a nuclear deterrent.
On one hand, yes, it’s hilarious. On the other, there’s a darker side to these messages. Many of these “wrong number” or “remember me” texts are part of what’s known as “pig butchering” scams – sophisticated romance/investment frauds.
A 2023 report from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimates victims lost over $50 billion worldwide to these schemes in the previous year alone. Shockingly, a lot of the people typing those flirty messages are victims themselves: trafficked workers forced to run scripts from compounds in Southeast Asia.
The “pig butchering” scam gets its grim name from the way criminals “fatten up” victims with weeks or months of fake affection before the financial slaughter.
What starts as a harmless “wrong number” text morphs into a whirlwind online romance, complete with sob stories, cute pet photos (stolen, naturally), and eventually “can’t-miss” cryptocurrency tips from a mysterious rich uncle.
By the time the mark has transferred their life savings into a fake trading app, the scammer vanishes, and the money is laundered through dozens of mule accounts. The FBI reported that U.S. victims alone lost $3.9 billion to these scams in 2023, with the real global figure likely far higher.
Even more chilling is the human cost on the other side of the screen. Investigative reports from BBC, ProPublica, and Al Jazeera have exposed sprawling scam compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia, where hundreds of thousands of trafficked workers, many lured with fake job offers, are beaten, electrocuted, or worse if they fail to hit daily quotas.
A 2024 UN Human Rights Office report described these centers as “industrial-scale cyber-slavery.” So when you fire off that perfect revenge meme, there’s a small chance the person who just received it is reading it through a black eye in a guarded barracks. It doesn’t make the scams less infuriating, but it does complicate the victory lap.
Trafficking survivor Rakesh, who escaped a Myanmar scam compound in 2023, shared with CNN: “They (were) treating us like slaves.” That context doesn’t erase the satisfaction of sending a hemorrhoid pic, but it does remind us that sometimes the person on the other end is just as trapped as the targets they’re told to message.
Human trafficking expert Jason Tower explained in a 2023 TIME article: “It’s really an option of either scam and make money for the syndicate or potentially lose your life, be subject to torture, be subject to threats of having your organs removed.”
So what’s the healthiest way to handle these texts? Experts recommend the boring-but-effective route: don’t reply at all (even with flaming-butt photos), block, report as spam, and move on.
Engaging, even gloriously, keeps your number “live” and valuable to scammers. Still… we get it. Sometimes the soul just needs to send one cursed image into the void and cackle.
These are the responses from Reddit users:
Some people enjoy aggressively messing with scammers using creative or shocking tactics.
Some people like to waste scammers’ time with absurd stories or loud annoying sounds.
Others advise against engaging because it can confirm your number is active or because the scammers are victims themselves.
In the end, our hemorrhoid warrior won the battle (and probably scarred “Amy” for life). Was it the most responsible move on planet Earth? Maybe not. Was it the cathartic victory we all daydream about when the 47th random number texts “Hey beautiful”? One thousand percent.
So tell us in the comments: would you have gone full medical-horror revenge, or are you team “never reply ever”? What’s the pettiest thing you’ve ever sent a scammer? Spill the tea!
