Tri-State residents say they are getting text messages about ‘picking cotton’

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Several residents in the Tri-State say they received a text message on Nov. 6 referencing an 'assignment' for work 'picking cotton.'

The texts are similar, with slight wording variations, and appear to be sent from different numbers at different times.

"I just kind of looked and I laughed, and I am like this can't be real. It's like, people are so ignorant," Keymani, a Cincinnati woman who received the text, says.

Tashania Tate-Dean says she and her daughter also received similar texts, expressing shock at the content of the messages.

FOX19 Tech Expert Dave Hatter explains that whoever is sending the texts might have gotten access to people's information from a data breach.

"The only logical explanation would be that they want to get you incensed, catch you off balance, and get you engaged in some kind of conversation where eventually you're going to get scammed somehow," Hatter suggests.

For those who have received the texts, Hatter recommends not responding and deleting the message.

The Cincinnati FBI office says that since the messages have been received by people across the country, the National Press Office will release a statement for the public.