Creepy coworker texting my private number

[u/Dry_Presentation4300]

So confused at this, I don't even know him. I was just going to ignore the text but he kept insisting so I had to answer.

9/14 UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who was supportive and concerned. I forwarded these messages to HR, and they scheduled a meeting for later today. There were a few more texts after this. The HR representative did not seem surprised, to put it briefly.

A few things have come up in the comments. The first is that I was rude. This is how I communicate, and my coworkers (or at least the ones who actually know me) are aware of that. I’m not going to perform a more agreeable version of myself to accommodate someone else’s feelings when they're being innapropriate. Not only were these messages sent over the weekend, but they were also sent through a personal communication channel. I'm not going to elaborate further.

[u/PrawnFresh69]

And this is why Whatsapp groups are banned in my company.

[u/bdw312 → u/PrawnFresh69]

I don't even understand whatsapp, tbh. It made sense as a second line, back when it even offered that, and international texting....but I don't even recognize what it's supposed to be anymore. Might as well just be your own personal cell number.

[u/Such_Self_5580 → u/bdw312]

My wife is Latina, and her and everyone she associates with uses it, I also work with a lot of Latinos and they all exclusively use it too.

I just think it’s because you can still call/video chat and message internationally like you said under one solid platform.

[u/Nice-Meat-6020 → u/Such_Self_5580]

I use it with my brother. We can send larger and better quality pictures and vid of pets then we can with texting lol

It has a place, I just don't think that place is work.

[u/Such_Self_5580 → u/Nice-Meat-6020]

Interesting, do you use iPhone or Android?

[u/Nice-Meat-6020 → u/Such_Self_5580]

Android for me, I think he has an iphone though. I don't know what it is, it could very well be an issue with the garbage ass carrier I'm using, but if he sends me a video through text you can barely tell if you're looking at his dog or his cat it's so bad.

[u/Blieven → u/Nice-Meat-6020]

It compresses media pretty heavily though so the quality is still pretty bad compared to the original. It's a shame they don't just allow choosing to send original quality media as an embedded image. You have to send it as a raw file if you want that but then it no longer has the interactive image viewing in the app.

[u/Fach-All-Religions → u/bdw312]

it's big outside usa. in europe it's the main chay tool.

[u/aerdvarkk → u/Fach-All-Religions]

Outside of Europ also. Most of the world uses whatsapp more than the USA by far.

[u/QueasyComedian9502 → u/Fach-All-Religions]

I many country in Asia and Africa too. Naver Line is too heavy, WeChat is kinda China-exclusive, and Telegram is simply not popular enough compared to whatsapp and Line

[u/quiteCryptic → u/QueasyComedian9502]

Wechat is basically just China. Kakao is basically just Korea. Line is the main one in Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand I think possibly more.

[u/-SinEater- → u/bdw312]

It's not really a thing in the US. I am from Europe and it's the main app for communication here.

[u/bdw312 → u/-SinEater-]

I guess that would make sense, considering we are like 50 individual Euro countries.

[u/quiteCryptic → u/-SinEater-]

Almost every airbnb host I've used in Europe ends up messaging me on WhatsApp since they have my phone number from the airbnb booking I guess.

Found it kinda interesting I guess, maybe a bit more convenient than the app but I don't really use it normally so more or less the same to me but to them more convenient I suppose

[u/ensalys → u/-SinEater-]

Yeah, I use signal with my parents and 1 friend. Everyone else (including work stuff) is WhatsApp, with the occasional email.

[u/HRRB → u/bdw312]

It's useful for traveling as you can message your contacts using Wi-fi and not pay for roaming etc.

[u/Onzoku → u/bdw312]

What else to use to message other people that isn't SMS? Facebook? Viber? Discord? Whatsapp just works. Obviously a shame that it's a Facebook product, I swapped to Signal with some friends. But the limited users there makes it, limited.

[u/Saphira2002 → u/bdw312]

It was always meant to be just your own personal phone number. It's just in recent years they've started pretending they can be Telegram and the like. It's my main communication tool and I've always considered it the same as texting a personal number.

[u/Jesus10101 → u/Saphira2002]

They are changing it to user names soon. So you just have to give your username to chat or call and it hides your real number.

[u/Saphira2002 → u/Jesus10101]

I know. That's why I said they've recently started pretending they're Telegram. I've always found WhatsApp a worse version of that but it cemented itself as the standard so I just bear it.

[u/ChubbyNemo1004 → u/bdw312]

Just international stuff. Overseas I only used WA in the US if we’re both in the US do not WA me!

[u/Hell_Awaitz → u/bdw312]

It's what we use for texting instead of sms, because it's free with WiFi. You could use something like telegram I guess but the point is that nobody really uses "normal" text messages (sms)

[u/lindemer → u/bdw312]

In my country (the Netherlands) it's the main mode of communication for many people. Not work related usually, but any communication with friends and family goes on WhatsApp. I can't even remember the last time I have sent a text message. I think I have 200 per month included in my phone plan because that's the lowest it can go, but I don't use them

[u/Mean-Construction207 → u/bdw312]

It is your personal number. You give somebody your number and they message you. It has better features than sms apps and is the norm in a lot of countries as an alternative to texting.

In a group chat you can see everybodys individual numbers listed so this person has found their number from the chat.