We’ve been scammed!

The family code is a great idea.
When I was young we 'lived above the shop' as my Dad was a GP. The doorbell would go all day invariably patients however, we had a coded number of rings to alert us if it was family or friends at the door.

CleoPanda

How did they get into What’s App?

I once said to my son that WhatsApp was secure, and he laughed and said dont count on it!

Thank you maddyone for telling us.
Some posters have run the gauntlet of ridicule for posting similar in the past.
Any of us could fall for a scam, given the right circumstances.

I'm glad the bank are helping out.

Thank you for letting us know.

maddyone

I wish I knew Cleo.

Did they log in to your daughter’s WhatsApp to message you? If so then she needs to change her passwords immediately. I don’t use WhatsApp, I don’t like that your ‘phone number is visible to all users, not just your contacts.

one of these on the scam thread on couple of weeks ago, 4th oct.

Everyone please check their settings to make sure they're not inadvertently making their number known to random others if in shared groups. Lots of WhatsApp groups set up re Covid or school or hobby clubs etc

I just warned my daughter about this. She said she's already had it. Hers said 'Hi mom. I'm stuck. I've lost my phone and have to use this old one. I need to pay (whatever) and can't access it on this phone. Can you do it please?'. She only has one child who was in the room with her at the time.

??

Kate, I love it. Unfortunately my daughter is in New Zealand, and even the times are different, and so we thought she was working and that’s why she didn’t answer her phone. Were we stupid? A big fat YES. That’s why I want everyone to know about it and why I started this thread. I managed to find the other thread on this very subject and added a post on there too which brought that thread back to prominence.

Blossoming, they didn’t log into my my daughter’s WhatsApp account, they created a new account for her. This is what I received;

Hi mum, this is my new number. My phone doesn’t turn on anymore so now you can text and call me on this number. ?

It was very plausible, and I fell for it. The request for money came later in the evening.

maddyone My daughter did say that had her daughter not been in the room, she probably would have believed it was her. I'm sure I would have too had I not read your warning today. I don't think you were stupid. These people are very clever. I think aI would have done as you did. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Oh that’s good MaddyOne. Bad enough to get scammed without her account being hacked too.

So how did the scammers get your number to send the WhatsApp?

Aveline I have no idea. I don’t pretend to know how these people do things, I just know they did.

EMMF1948

When we have family travelling, or living overseas in this instance, we have a code phrase, if that phrase isn't in the message we would treat it as scam until we know otherwise,

That's a great ídea, might consider using that in our family.

Aveline

So how did the scammers get your number to send the WhatsApp?

Aveline
They are hackers. They hack into phones, bank accounts, etc.
That’s not to say that all hackers are bad people. Some do it as an exercise just because they can and to see how far they can
get in that’s their buzz.

www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/mobile-news/types-hackers/

MetyleStreep I asked how they got her number because the OP said her daughter wasn't hacked.

So sorry Maddy and on top of everything else too. I’ve been scammed twice, got my money back both times, but the way yours was done I would have definitely fallen for that one, so unfair when you have so many other worries too. Hope it’s sorted out quickly xx

So glad you will get your money back maddyone. Using children to scam parents is one of the things that would probably work the best.

Hope you are past the stress and worry now

Thanks for the heads up on this one. I would have done excactly as you did maddyone

However now I will stop and think if I get a similar text and discuss a family code as back up.
Thank you.

Thanks for the warning Maddyone Glad you managed to sort it.
Got idea about using a code EMM

Commiserations, what a horrible experience Maddyone. The effort that goes into tricking unsuspecting people out of their money is despicable. One of the great downsides of modern day life. All any of us can do, is to make as many others aware of how feasible some of these scams appear.

Thank you for all your kind comments everyone. Getting to people via their children is probably the most effective way to work a scam. Most of us would find it very difficult to refuse our children if they desperately need money. These scammers pile on the pressure by saying ‘Mum, I need to make this payment today’ so it has to be done quickly, giving the parent less time to think about it. I really can’t believe we fell for it, but we did. They even asked for our credit card details if the payment wouldn’t go through, but we didn’t give those. The trouble is that you think your child is having a short term financial difficulty because her new phone wouldn’t process the payment she was trying to make. It’s an emotional situation. I don’t want anyone else to fall for this, please tell all your friends and family members.

My neighbour is 84 and has just been scammed today with a purported Royal Mail text, telling her they were holding a parcel that had been underpaid. She clicked the link and entered her credit card details, but luckily her daughter came round and has managed to get her card cancelled.

There are lots of Royal Mail scams I've discovered, some of them are listed here for reference.

www.royalmail.com/help/scam-examples

This identical scam mother and son phone payment was featured on BBC 1 this week..hacking accounts..u have to check personally or banks will not refund payments

It was kind of you to relay your story on here Maddyone to warn others of this sadly not unusual scam.
We all like to think we would never be taken in, and even though some are easy to spot, others can be convincing.

Our newspaper covers these dreadful scams on a regular basis with readers explaining in detail just how easy it is to be taken in by these awful hoaxes.

I remember reading one woman’s story who said she was an intelligent, educated woman who had run her own business for many years, yet still she was taken in by a very sophisticated hoax.

The more these awful crimes are highlighted, the more on our guard we will all be.