NORFOLK, Va. — On Wednesday, the Virginia Attorney General's Office condemned racist text messages from an unknown source sent to people across the state. The text message asked people to report to a plantation to pick cotton. It arrived on people's phones a day after Election Day.
One of the people who received that text message is 13News Now photographer Sam Burwell.
He said he received a strange text message from an unfamiliar phone number. The text message read,
Greetings, Samuel,
You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12 pm sharp with your belongings. Our executive slaves will come get you in a brown van. Be prepared to be searched down once you've enter the plantation. You are in plantation group W.
Burwell said he knows others who received the message.
"I have a cousin up in Richmond who received the same text message, but I found it weird that in my text message, it had a different group number than his, and they both had our names," Burwell said.
On Wednesday, people shared the same message with different group assignments from various phone numbers across social media. 13News Now contacted Virginia's Attorney General Jason Miyares's office, which sent a statement:
The Attorney General's Office is aware of these text messages and unequivocally condemns them. Anyone who believes themselves to be under threat should not hesitate to contact local law enforcement and their local FBI field office by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (or 1-800-225-5324) or visiting FBI.gov/tips.
Meanwhile, Burwell said he is concerned about receiving a text message a day after the elections.
"I feel like it's a spam message [and] I do feel disappointed about the message they're sending a day after the election," said Burwell.
On Thursday, cybersecurity expert Greg Tomchick, the CEO of Valor Cybersecurity, said that a data broker, or someone who collects and or sells a person's personal data, could be behind the viral text message.
"A typical data broker has about 15 data points on every single American. Eventually, their database, once they buy it from that company that gets the information and then now they have a database where they can filter through based [off of] race, location, and preferences, then be able to put them into a list to send a targeted text message like we've seen in this case," said Tomchick.
13News Now called the phone number that sent the text message, but no one answered the phone call.
A spokesperson with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a statement that said, "Our Enforcement Bureau is aware of these and is looking into them alongside federal and state law enforcement."
Moreover, a spokesperson with the FBI Norfolk office released the following statement:
"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 this matter. As always, we encourage members of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement authorities."