BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — A woman in Missouri is scared after receiving threatening texts from a number she'd never seen before. The texter seems to be someone who took advantage of the so-called "number neighbor" trend.
"I'm still scared he could come find me," said Delana, who asked that her last name not be revealed.
The mom of two had quite the scare Saturday when she got a series of text messages from an unknown number.
"My phone kept on going off and off and off. I thought maybe it was my husband sending me something," Delana told WDAF.
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The stranger was her "number neighbor," someone whose phone number was just one digit off from hers.
The messages started cordial but quickly escalated into something more sinister, with sexual overtones and death threats and the person called Delana their "future lover."
Delana was terrified and told the person they had the wrong number, but the stranger wrote back warning Delana of their "split personality."
"I've done psychology in college. Those can go too far, especially if someone is not on their medication," said Delana.
The mystery texter told Delana they were number neighbors but she didn't know what that meant. She finally ended the conversation when asked about her gender and called police.
Police said they were familiar with "number neighbors" and told her to block the number and give them a call if she notices anyone suspicious around her house.
"They think nothing will come of it," said Delana. "I still make sure every window is locked in my house, every door is locked."
She said she doesn't want the person who sent her the messages to get in trouble, but people need to understand there's such a thing as taking it too far.
This was just that.
"I think jokes are fine if you want to do the neighbor number thing, but doing it to the level of threatening. It's not a game at that point. I have family. I have children. That's too much," said Delana.
The "number neighbor" trend took off on Twitter last month, when some people shared screenshots of their conversations. Fortunately, most of those conversations appeared to be light-hearted.