This gives them an excuse for having a different phone number, and means they don’t even need to know someone’s name, just ‘Mum’ or ‘Dad’ can be enough.

Once someone has responded, they will use the pretence of being a family member who has lost their phone and got a replacement. How the scam worksĪlthough it may seem like a very personal and targeted scam, typically fraudsters will send the same initial message to lots of different phone numbers at the same time, in the hope that they get a few replies. While banks are constantly evolving their fraud detection systems to try to counter these new threats, it also reiterates the importance of the role other sectors have to play in combatting fraud, with almost all scams now starting online, through social media or via a phone call or message.

The rate of growth in WhatsApp scams is another sign of how organised criminal gangs are always changing their methods, and the speed with which they can adapt. More traditional scams where fraudsters impersonate a bank, the police or an institution like HMRC still account for the vast majority of reported impersonation fraud, however the number of those actually dropped by around 14 per cent last year.

Are there any whatsapp scams