Several people, including children and college students, have reported receiving racist text messages from unrecognised phone numbers in recent days, CNN says.

The texts have been reported in states including Maryland, New Jersey, Alabama, Michigan and South Carolina.

“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,” CNN quoted an FBI statement as saying.

Talaya Jones, a Black woman who lives in Piscataway, New Jersey, said she was “shocked” to receive a text on Wednesday informing her that she had been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation”, she told CNN.

CNN also shared a screenshot of the purported text message received by Jones, part of which read: “Our executive slave catchers pick you up in a brown van, be prepared to be searched once you’ve entered the plantation.”

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