Once again, fraudsters stole several thousand euros. They posed as their daughter via WhatsApp and tricked the mother with a nasty legend via chat.
Late on Monday evening, the 58-year-old victim received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number. “Hello mom, my cell phone suffered water damage. This is now my temporary number,” the first chat post read. The mother replied innocently on Tuesday morning and an initially unsuspicious chat developed.

“The cell phone ended up in the toilet and now needs to dry,” it was said, for example. The “daughter” also had an excuse for not being reachable by phone. Later she chatted that she had to make an urgent transfer and asked her mother to lay out the sum. The wrong daughter sent the bank details and wanted a photo of the transfer via chat as confirmation. The mother transferred almost 4,000 euros to the foreign account on Tuesday afternoon and sent the requested photo in the WhatsApp chat, which then ended. When the real daughter called later in the afternoon with her known number, the fraud was discovered.
At the end of November, a 59-year-old from Paderborn transferred a similar amount to WhatsApp fraudsters. “Hello Dad…” the messenger chat in this case began. The bank could no longer cancel the transfers to a foreign account.
The police advise caution and appeal: “You think you wouldn’t fall for this? May be. But maybe your parents or grandparents, friends or acquaintances. That’s why we appeal to you: warn the people who are close to you about this new scam!”
This is how you can protect yourself:
- If someone you know contacts you at an unknown number, do not save the number automatically
. - Ask the person you know at the old number.
- Be wary of requests for money, whether by post, email, telephone or via messenger services such as WhatsApp.
- Pay attention to the security settings of the messaging service you use.
If you have been a victim:
- Always file a criminal complaint!
- Under no circumstances should you make any further monetary payments.
- Inform your bank to stop or reverse any cash flows you may have made.
Source: Paderborn police
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