The current topic among state police investigators is fraud on WhatsApp. New reports land on desks in criminal investigation offices every day. In the past two weeks in particular, cases have increased significantly.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been 198 reports of fraud via WhatsApp in the Rostock and Neubrandenburg police headquarters area - with around 171,000 euros in damage recorded when the report was made. In some cases, the transfer can be retrieved with the help of the house bank after the notification, but often the money is simply gone.
In comparison: A total of 49 cases with a damage amount of around 53,000 euros were reported in the presidiums in the six-month period from July to December 2021.
WhatsApp is being used more and more frequently by fraudsters to quickly obtain four-digit amounts of money between 1,000 euros and 4,000 euros.
In one Rostock case it was even around 10,000 euros. The scam is always similar: most suspects pose as the son or daughter of the later victims in a WhatsApp message. Apparently they have a new number or a new cell phone because the old one was lost or broken, for example. ( We reported about it here )
Basically, right when or shortly after contacting them, they pretend that they are unable to make an urgent transfer using online banking because of their new cell phone and ask the supposed parents to do this on their behalf. In many cases, the messages are so credible that those contacted respond immediately and transfer money. The age range of those affected is between 27 and 89 years, and those affected are usually between 50 and 65 years old.
This was also the case with a woman from Neubrandenburg who received a “Hello Mom” WhatsApp.
The real son actually complained about problems with his cell phone a few days ago. “So it was totally believable when I got the message that he had a new cell phone with a new number,” says the victim, who had already heard about the scam herself. “And I still fell for it because all the small talk in the chat with him was credible and everything was worded in a comprehensible way. Then he remembered that he had high cell phone bills and that he couldn't get his new cell phone into his account at the bank," she says in the virtual dialogue. At 2,000 euros she thought it was pretty steep, but it probably came from a lot of cell phone gaming.

The woman ultimately transferred the first sum, became suspicious when she asked again and finally contacted her bank and the police to get the sum back if possible.
If a transfer has already been made, the police recommend exactly the same approach as the woman did: If the fraud is noticed quickly enough, then you should immediately notify your bank and urgently request that the money be taken back. In addition, a report should be filed with the police and this report should be communicated to the bank. The time window for returns is short, so those affected should react very quickly.
But how do the perpetrators get the victims' cell phone numbers and other data?
The investigators assume that a large proportion of the data reaches the fraudsters through illegal data purchases on the Internet or through hacker attacks on online sales portals or other platforms on which a cell phone number is stored digitally.
In order to avoid becoming a victim in the first place, everyone should pay close attention to the use of language in received messages, for example to grammar, spelling and the form of address (does my child actually call me mom or doesn't it say mom?). In addition, those contacted should never give their relatives' real names on their own initiative. And even if it initially seems credible that children or other family members have really lost their cell phone and could ask for money or a bill payment at short notice: you should always call your relatives directly in advance. It's better to make one too many calls than end up losing money or having to deal with trying to make a refund.
Source: Neubrandenburg Police Headquarters
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