Reports of a new scam have been increasing for months. The fraudsters act in a similar way to the so-called “grandchild trick”, but operate via WhatsApp.

Perpetrators act under the wrong name on WhatsApp!

The perpetrators select their victims specifically - they look for parents whose children live abroad. The criminals act in the name of the children: they contact the relatives using a new, unknown number. Apparently because the old number no longer works or the cell phone broke. They then ask the victims for money - they have bills to pay and their debit card doesn't yet work abroad or they are simply bankrupt.

The perpetrators often act very professionally

They send deceptively genuine payment requests or invoices from various retail chains and stay in contact with the parents, who often believe the fraudsters - and transfer money. “What's ultimately perfidious is that you sneak into someone's trust and take on the identity of a family member or a friend,” says Harald Schmidt from the police crime prevention department.

Be sure to check the information

To avoid becoming a victim of such a scam, you should carefully check the information from the chat. First, call your child’s “old” number. If that doesn't work, ask the contact for a voice message or a call - this way you can verify the voice and thus the identity.

Another indication of fraud can be spelling errors in the invoices sent. Pay attention to umlauts: “ä”, “ü” or “ö” points are often missing - after all, these do not exist in most languages. You should also be suspicious of any errors in expression, as perpetrators operating from abroad often work with translation programs, which is why the translations are often incorrect.

For example, if a “prize winner” is mentioned instead of a “recipient” or the “account holder”, you should be skeptical. Likewise, the “official” payment documents often lack a salutation. Because the fraudsters usually don't know the full name of their victims - they therefore completely avoid addressing them by name.

Source: SWR market check

Our tips on this topic:

  • Simply call your relative on the unknown number! If the right person contacts you, everything is fine. If not, then caution is advised.
  • If you can only communicate via message, ask something personal. Or contact the person using the phone number you know.
  • Always be suspicious when you are asked to pay money via messenger services!
  • Do not save unknown phone numbers as contacts without checking them.
  • If you hear a call that seems suspicious, tell the police immediately.
  • Be sure to contact the police if you have been a victim and file a report.

Inform relatives and friends about this scam

This WhatsApp scam has been successful for a long time. Too many people lost money because of this. It is therefore important to inform as many people as possible and tell them about this scam.

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Notes:
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