They do these innocuous messages to build the numbers reputation before they start using it for spam. If enough people reply (even to tell them to stop) it makes the number look legitimate and the spam they eventually send is less likely to get blocked. If you get these your best bet is to report it as spam. Just a PSA to everyone.

[–] paris@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I learned this the other day and someone mentioned that replying with just "STOP" flags the sender as spam to the telecom company.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 19 hours ago

why would this work?

[–] AFallingAnvil@lemmy.ca 12 points 3 days ago

That's common misinformation, there's no such thing for telecoms (otherwise a heated argument with a teenager could get you flagged as spam). The correct move is report as spam and move on.