Whatsapp scams1/4/2024 ![]() Rather than discussing this over text, the mum decided to call the daughter and soon found out it was a scam. They then went on to ask for help with two payments and told the mum 'her daughter's' bank account had been blocked over fraud. The mum didn't think anything of it but when she asked who "me" was, they replied “your oldest and cutest child xx.” I got a new number u can delete the old one.” One mum shared her experience in a Facebook group to warn others of the dangers, Birmingham Live reported. If you have older people in your life who might be susceptible to phishing scams, I’d recommend regular chats on staying safe!"Īnother regular scam sees fraudsters pose as contacts, such as a family member or friend, and claim that they have switched numbers. All worked out fine but it shook them up and stressed them out. They explained: "Today someone posed as me on WhatsApp and tried to scam some money out of my parents. One social media user took to Twitter and shared their experience. ![]() The campaign said research has also shown that people aged under 34 are significantly more likely to prefer a text-based method of communication to a phone call.WhatsApp has faced many problems in recent months such as when the app had a global outage for hours leaving users unable to send or receive messages.īut now the messaging service is facing even more issues with scammers targeting users and hijacking their accounts by posing as a friend or family member and asking for SMS security codes.Īlthough the scam has been around for a while, more people are still being caught out. "These kinds of scams are particularly cruel as they prey on our kindness and desire to help friends and family." “The messages are sent from the compromised accounts of your friends, so they look as if they’re coming from someone you know, or from an unknown number claiming to be a friend who has lost their phone or been ‘locked out’ of their account. ![]() She said: “Scammers send messages that appear to come from a friend or family member asking for personal information, money or a six-digit pin number. Louise Baxter, head of the National Trading Standards scams team and Friends Against Scams, said reports of “friend-in-need” scams have been growing in recent months. "A friend in need is a friend worth calling." “If you receive a suspicious message (even if you think you know who it is from), calling or requesting a voice note is the fastest and simplest way to check someone is who they say they are. "We advise all users never to share their six-digit pin code with others, not even friends or family, and recommend that all users set up two-step verification for added security." ![]() Kathryn Harnett, policy manager at WhatsApp, said: “WhatsApp protects our users’ personal messages with end-to-end encryption, but we want to remind people that we all have a role to play in keeping our accounts safe by remaining vigilant to the threat of scammers. If it turns out to be untrue, report it to Action Fraud. Only when you are 100% sure the request is from someone you know and trust, should you consider it. – Call: Verify that it really is your friend or family member by calling them directly, or asking them to share a voice note. – Think: Does this request make sense? Are they asking for money? Remember that scammers prey on people’s kindness, trust and willingness to help. Make sure your WhatsApp two-step verification is switched on to protect your account, that you are happy with your privacy settings.
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