If you got a text from them, all you know is that they have your phone number. You don't know for a fact that they know your name, town, or pic. If you pay them a fee, then they will get your name, town, and if you have a facebook page or something, they will easily get your pic from there after they know your name and town. Then they will extort money from you a 2nd time, and they will have all your info for real. What are you going to do then, sue them? They are overseas criminals and you don't even know who these people are.
Enter your own hobby phone number into google to see if it comes up on any "exposing johns" website, and see for yourself what info they in fact have about you. They most likely don't even have your real name, because you use a hobby phone, a hobby email address, and you use a nick name to hobby, right?
By the way, these extortionists get your phone number because they themselves post fake ads, and you replied to one. If your hobby phone comes up on a site like that, then who cares, it isn't connected to your name anyway. If it is your actual personal cell phone number that they have, then change your number, tell your friends/family that you have a new number because telemarketers kept annoying you on your old number.
In this day an age, use a throw away phone for hobbying/buying selling things from people you don't know on craigslist/dealing with potentially crazy people who you never want to hear from again/etc. I use T-Mobile Sim cards with $20 loaded on them already, available on Amazon for $7. They are good for about 100 minutes, which I don't even use up anyway. Then I change my hobbying number every 3 months when they expire. So for me, my hobby phone literally costs $28 a year.
Posted By: Lock6656
I just got a text message from exposing Jon's.com that they have a profile of me listing my name phone, town and pic. For a fee they can investigate and have my name and # removed (I do believe it's a shakedown and I'm do not plan to pay). What should i do is this a legit threat? Has anyone else experianced this? I'm not worried legally I just want to remain descrete about my hobby.