IT’S every parent’s worst nightmare, receiving a text from your child in distress because they have lost their phone and are without funds in an emergency. It is also an ideal way for scammers to elicit money from unsuspecting loved ones.
Detectives in the Cybercrime unit are investigating offshore offenders who have used such a tactic to deceive at least 25 victims out of money, since January this year.
Accepting a WhatsApp or text message, victims have fallen prey to: “Hi mum, I’ve changed provider/lost/broken my phone- I’m temporarily using this number for now.”
Drawing the victim’s attention, a conversation develops leading to the offender asking for money due to some form of emergency. Often the offender requests a photo of a credit card, or a transfer to a bank account that they will purport to be using while they can’t access their normal bank account. Once one transfer has been made, the offender will frequently request another sum of money.
It appears most offenders are located offshore and are not known to the victims.
Detectives have issued a warning to the public to be on guard if they receive a message of this kind and maintain that it is always good practice to authenticate identity from an unfamiliar number. Investigators urge anyone who has received a ‘Hi Mum,’ message to come forward with any information.
