In other variations of this story, the scammer may claim to have been locked out of their mobile banking app. ![]() The scammer narrates a convincing tale about a lost or broken phone so as to justify this new number.The target receives a WhatsApp message from an unknown number claiming to be from their child.Unsuspecting parents are deceived into transferring funds into a scammer’s bank account. It involves fraudsters impersonating a victim's child and asking for money. The mom and Dad scam is a classic social engineering attack that’s extremely easy to orchestrate. 10 Types of WhatsApp Scams Making the Rounds Today If you’d rather text than talk, how are you protecting yourself against the latest WhatsApp scams? In this guide, we’ll list the most trending scams, how they work, and what you can do to avoid them. Projections show that Americans could lose $28 billion to text message scams going into 2023. Scammers prowling on text messaging apps like WhatsApp sent a massive 66 billion spam texts in 2022. With over two billion monthly active users, WhatsApp has become a popular platform for scammers to ensnare their targets. When you call 159, you’ll be redirected to a service that connects you to your bank so you can report scams or suspected fraudulent activity.If there’s one messaging app that scammers can easily exploit to steal your money and identity, it’s WhatsApp. Protect: contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam, and report to Action Fraud. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you. Stop: taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.Ĭhallenge: could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Whenever anyone asks you to send over money or your personal information, whether it’s through a message, email, or phone call, we recommend following the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign: ![]() Do not be fooled, it’s likely that this is all part of the act.īetween 3 February and 21 June last year alone, this type of scam was reported to Action Fraud 1,235 times, costing users £1.5 million. They might try and make small talk to convince you that they’re genuine. If you do not send the money over, the fraudster may keep messaging you. If you received the message by text, you can report it to OFCOM by forwarding it to 7726. Report the WhatsApp user within the app and block their number once you confirm it’s a scam.Call your family member or friend’s original number, and speak to them so you can confirm whether the message is genuine or not.If you ever receive this type of message, it’s important that you: Send a message via text initially, and ask you to keep the conversation going on WhatsApp. ![]() Contact you via your work mobile number.Ask you to send over photos of your family members or friends, and go on to target other people you’re close to.If you receive a message like this, do not send any money. It’s likely they’ll send over their bank details, and request money to help them pay for a replacement phone, or claim they need money to pay an urgent bill. They’ll then say they’re messaging you from a new number because something’s happened to their phone. They’ll start the conversation with something like “Hi Mum” or “Hi Dad”. It involves criminals messaging victims, pretending to be a family member or friend - sometimes, they’ll even have a photo of the family member or friend in their profile picture if it’s on WhatsApp. There’s a particular type of WhatsApp and text scam that’s circulating, known as a ‘friends and family’ scam. ![]() Not only do fraudsters use emails and calls to try and scam you out of your money, they’ll also use text messages and popular messaging services, like WhatsApp.
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