12/18/2022 0 Comments Whatsapp scams![]() ![]() People receiving messages out of the blue should remember the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign, which urges people to pause and take time to think before handing over any personal information or money. ![]() 'Certainly I think the time frame we saw it really starting last year was around October, November.' 'It might be more common for someone to fall for it at that time of year,' the fraud expert said. Parents of students should also be on high alert as their children go back to university in autumn, despite parents of adults older than university age also being targeted. Mr Ainsley believes it is an indicator of 'how agile criminals can be'. Once the money has been transferred to the new account, the fraudster may cut off all contact and the victim will be unable to access their funds. They will be provided with details of an account which will be controlled by the fraudster or perhaps a money mule, and told to ask their friend or family member to transfer the money on to the other account. It could also make it harder for banks to trace the cash if the money going through multiple accounts.Īfter contacting a 'parent' with a 'Hi Mum' or 'Hi Dad' message which appears to be from their child, the fraudster will then try to convince them that their account has been compromised and they need to transfer cash to a friend or family member to keep their money 'safe'. Scammers may try to do this to give the appearance that the initial bank transfer is a relatively low risk 'friends and family' payment. It's picked up again in the last month where we're not just seeing it through WhatsApp but on "traditional" SMS or text messages.'įraud expert Chris Ainsley, of Santander UK, has warned of new ways that scammers are pretending to be family or friends in order to trick people into sending money 'We saw a significant spate in fake WhatsApp messages pretending to be from people's children,' he said. The scam usually begins with a WhatsApp message saying 'Hi Mum' or 'Hi Dad' to try and lure victims into responding - believing they are texting their son or daughter - before asking them to send over money.īut while these scams have in the past traditionally begun on WhatsApp, according to Mr Ainsley, they are now also appearing in other messaging forms. Sky Sports commentator Jacqui Oatley has also been vocal in warning people about the scams after she revealed her mother was targeted along with thousands of parents who were conned into believing their children were in trouble. Meanwhile, 66-year-old pensioner Angela Briscoe revealed last month that she lost nearly £10,000 to the scam and was only able to recover half of it through the bank. It comes after a 53-year-old nurse Toni Parker lost £2,450 when a scammer impersonated her son, claiming he had dropped his phone down the toilet and needed money. Such scams have appeared on WhatsApp in recent months, with 1,235 reports made to Action Fraud between February 3 and June 21, tricking Brits into handing over £1.5million in just six months. Con artists behind the 'Hi Mum' and 'Hi Dad' WhatsApp scam are now targeting victims through new channels, a fraud expert has today warned.įraudsters are now using other avenues such as 'traditional' SMS and text messages in order to approach their victims, according to Chris Ainsley, head of fraud risk management at Santander UK. ![]()
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