A crafty WhatsApp scam strategy was recently discovered targeting unsuspecting parents and their money. Scammers would impersonate children who "need money immediately" for their allowance or other related payments.
This recently discovered WhatsApp scam starts with a deceptively simple message "hey mum, its me." Parents who reply are eventually led to believe that their children are in some sort of emergency that requires immediate funds. While money is being stolen from their parents, the real children would remain safe and completely unaware of the transaction.
WhatsApp Scams 2021: 'Hey Mum, it's me.'
One victim from Bedford shared her experience with the WhatsApp scam. She showed an image on the scam message thread, per The Sun.
The scammer started with a message, "Hey mum it's me. I got a new number u can delete the old one." The mother asked "which me is it?" which the scammer answered, "your oldest and cutest child." The scammer eventually explained that they were using a new iPhone (hence the different number) but encountered "a little problem that I can't solve. Can you help me with it."
The last message read out, "well because of that new device I have to transfer all apps, but the banking app put a 48-hour security on the app due to fraud. All nice but I have to pay 2 payments... could you possibly pay for it for me and I'll return it as soon as possible?"
To emphasize, the crafty scam message explained why the impersonated child suddenly changed phones numbers. The scammer also hid the money theft strategy by saying, "I have to pay payments" and using a third-party account outside the impersonated child's bank account.
Fortunately, the mother called her daughter and confirmed there was no cash plea. The mother described this scam strategy as a creepy impersonation tactic.
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WhatsApp Scams 2021: Fraudster Almost Gets Away With $2700!
A second victim reported a similar incident to The Daily Record. The said father received a message from his "daughter" asking for £2,000, which is approximately $2,732. The father immediately sent the money after getting the barrage of messages.
Fortunately, the Royal Bank of Scotland had suspicions about the unusually large amount of money and did not immediately process the transfer. Instead, they blocked the money from leaving the dad's account, protecting it from the scammer.
Lauren, the 25-year-old daughter of the victim, was extremely upset with the strategy. According to Daily Record, Lauren said, "It was awful, I've never heard of anything like this. It was really, really scary... I don't know how they (scammers) sleep at night. They are scumbags."
These are, unfortunately, very effective strategies for unsuspecting and supportive parents. To avoid falling victim, parents are recommended to phone their children immediately and clarify the situation whenever they receive this type of messages.
Parents should also remain on a lookout for other similar types of scamming strategies.
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