Racist texts referring to 'picking cotton' reported across nation

SAN DIEGO (KGTV)— Concerning spam-like text messages are being reported to authorities across the country, and now the FBI is getting involved. A viewer sent this screenshot of a text she received from an unknown number.

Tali Letoi

The viewer who asked not to be named says she felt ‘horrified and fearful’ after receiving a message like this. She’s not alone.

Many black people nationwide have reported getting similar messages post-Election Day where they’re told they’ve been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.”

But this latest trend raises the question of how people are able to do this. One local expert weighed in on how it’s possible to receive certain peoples’ private information.

“There have been several data breaches, and each one of those data breaches contain sensitive information,” says Nikolas Behar, an adjunct professor of Cybersecurity at the University of San Diego. “And when we take pieces from each one of those data breaches and we cross-compare it with things like social media, publicly available profiles, we can discern certain targets, whether it’s gender or race.”

More than ten states have reported similar texts, some even on college campuses, which has put authorities at the local and federal levels on high alert.

In a statement to ABC 10News, the FBI said:

“The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter.

As always, we encourage members of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement authorities.”

While it remains unclear who is responsible, the FTC is urging those who get the messages to make them as spam or junk so that they’re reported to the messaging app. And Behar says it’ll possibly be the new norm.

“So it’s difficult to protect against this type of attack. And it’s unfortunately something that we’re gonna have to start grappling with.”