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Fraudsters hitting a new low

(5 Posts)
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jinglbellsfrocks Thu 07-Apr-16 15:12:55

Thanks for the heads-up Craftycat. We opened a bank account for GS for his fourteenth birthday and we pay a bit of pocket money into it for him every month. I have never thought to warn him about anything like this. Definitely time to do so.

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Craftycat Thu 07-Apr-16 14:33:37

No- it just said unknown number Leicester.

My son is going to speak to school when they go back. The more I think about it the more furious I am. if I could get hold of that man for just 2 minutes!!!
Apparently GS told him he was 11. Having spoken to him again at length what is concerning is that this man knew his phone no., email address & name. We think it is something to do with this OSPER card the children have now with a little bit of cash on it for emergencies. We are going to contact them to inform them they may have been hacked.

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Nonnie Thu 07-Apr-16 12:50:43

Appalling. I don't suppose the number was recorded so you could report it?

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sunseeker Thu 07-Apr-16 12:48:06

How lucky that you were there and able to intervene! These people will target anyone they think they can get money out of, they have no conscience whatever. Hopefully your GS will tell all his friends so they are also aware of the danger - perhaps you could contact his school and they could also let the children know

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Craftycat Thu 07-Apr-16 12:43:11

I have my GC staying here this week. I was hovering this morning when my 11 year old GS got a call on his mobile. He was allowed a mobile when he started new school last year as he walks home. Not unusual for one of his friends to call him when he is here. However I noticed he wasn't saying much & looking a bit puzzled so I asked him who it was & he said he didn't know but he was asking questions. I told him to hang up immediately. It turns out this man said he had been talking to GS's Mum about getting discounts at shops & he could not get hold of her but if GS could give him a bank acc .no. he could activate it for her. We blocked the number so he could not call again & we had a LONG talk about fraud & what these B*****ds will do to get information they can use.
GS knew about not talking to strangers either on phone, online or in person but as he said he had been talking to his Mum he was not sure if it was OK or not. Obviously he has no clue about their banking arrangements anyway.
Very disturbing that they could sink so low as to try & involve a chid but nothing surprises me. In the long run it was good we had that talk & he is now a lot more aware of how these people work but I was appalled & very upset that my own GC was targeted in this way.
Might be worth a chat with your own GC about this. Children are programmed to trust adults & they can be fooled into believing them- especially over the phone which seems so impersonal & not at all dangerous.
I expect it was just a random number call & he did not know a child would answer but it was very upsetting.

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