“Hi mom, I have a new phone number. You can save it,” or similar to how WhatsApp chats begin, with which fraudsters try to get money. The grandchild trick is not new: the Hessian State Criminal Police Office has been registering increasing numbers of WhatsApp fraud cases in Hesse since 2021. In recent months, the number of attempted and completed fraudulent acts has increased massively; several hundred cases are now reported every month.
This is how the perpetrators of the grandchild trick 2.0 proceed
The scam is a classic grandchild trick - only carried out via messenger and not, as was common in the past, via a telephone call. The perpetrators report via WhatsApp, sometimes preceded by an initiating SMS, with an unknown phone number for their future victims. You pretend to be a child or grandchild who has a new phone number due to a broken or lost smartphone, which should also be saved directly.
During the chat, the victim is asked to transfer money - several hundred or thousand euros. The reason given is an emergency, for example online banking is not possible because of a lost cell phone. The victim is assured that the money will be returned promptly - which of course does not happen. Foreign accounts are usually specified for the transfer. Once the money has been transferred, it usually cannot be retrieved.
This way you can protect yourself and your family
- If someone you know contacts you on an unknown number, do not save the number automatically. Check with the person at the old number you know.
- Requests for money via WhatsApp and other messengers should always be suspicious and checked.
- Pay attention to the security settings of the messaging service you use.
- Pay attention to messages from WhatsApp: The messenger service detects when an existing contact changes their phone number. If you do not receive this message, be particularly careful.
- Do not comply with payment requests via WhatsApp.
- Ask questions in the chat that only your relatives would know, for example about an imaginary family member. If the person accepts this, it is most likely a scam.
- If you have already made a transfer, contact your financial institution.
- Children can also raise awareness among their parents and grandparents by pointing out the scam and educating them about it.
- Do you suspect that you have become a victim of a crime? Report it to the police and save the chat history via screenshot.
Source:
Press portal
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