Was this the start of a scam?

Yes, scam. He would have given you a sort code and account number for you to transfer the money to I would imagine.

but surely you would not have acted on that message request without first speaking to your son ?
the next stage would obviously have been for you to send some of your money to the scammer.
and your details would then be put on a suckers list and sold on. this is valuable data of anyone who has taken the bait or even replied at all; shews an active number and someone who might be conned.
these lists get compiled, sold and re-sold. it is a kind of off-shoot business of the primary scamming, and very lucrative.

If you’re in the UK use of ‘Mom’ would be an immediate red flag. And surely no-one would be so daft as to act on this without speaking to child on usual number.

How horrible ! What wretched people these are !
My sister returned from shopping a few years ago to find her husband ( who has early dementia ) giving their bank details to someone over the phone. He thought it was his daughter. In fact it was some evil little trollop. These people are wicked through and through.

I don't understand why "Mom" would be a red flag? We are in the West Midlands and that's what my kids call me!

The whole message is nonsensical. If he cannot pay for something because his phone number isn't recognised, how can you sending him cash help? He still has to get the money from his bank account to the supplier and if it isn't recognising his phone....?

Anyway, when paying for something, where does the number of the phone come into it? All he needs to do is ring up the supplier with credit or debit card details and the phone number is irrelevant.

What would worry me is that someone had my number and knew I was of an age to have adult children and one was male. That uneasy feeling that it was someone in my or my son's friendship group.

obviously a scam. delete.

Scam!

The OP said message, so it could have been a random text message. Chances are that it'll go to someone with kids. They know that no parent would ignore a message they think is from their child.

I also called my mother mom, its quite a normal greeting.

I had a call the pother day telling me that there was a problem with my National Insurance contributions and that in order to stay within the law I had to press "1" - I blocked the number.

They ever end these scams do they?

I had a message from a friend just over a week ago asking for monetary help as she had left her phone at home.
I rang her on her home phone and her email had been hacked.
This is a long standing and well advertised scam.
Always check first.
It must pay off or it wouldn’t still be going.
Very clever but evil people.

I rarely hear any scam messages as most of them are based on recorded messages, which are voice activated. if I get a call from a number I do not recognise, I pick the phone up and say nothing for about 5 seconds, I then hear a click as the machine the other end turns of and ends the call.

If it is a genuine call, the caller will speak and I then speak to them.

To be honest any message like that is suspicious and the reason a close relative is used is because it triggers emotion on the receiver and they are more likely to respond. Next step would have been to text you sort code and account number for transfer

I am always very cautious about any phone call that involves banking or money.

We had a phone call from our bank on Friday that we were expecting, but it started so much like a scam call, requests for personal information and when he said he was calling about our 'case' and I asked what the case was, he said he couldn't tell me until he had all the security information, I told him that, although we were expecting a call, this was going so like a scam call that I would ring off until I had verified it. He offered to send me an email, which he did, but while he was doing it I rang my branch to verify it.

He then rang back and we sorted the problems out with our 'case'. The caller from the bank fully understood my caution.