In my occasional series about scams and scammers.
“Hi Mum it’s me,” said the message, explaining that she had broken her phone and was using a different one. “She dropped everything to sort it out,” says Sophie of her mother, who had begun the process of transferring £3,000. But the message was not to be trusted. The transfer was destined for a scammer. At that moment, Sophie – the real Sophie – happened to text her mother with an update on her new kitten, which they had picked up together a few days earlier.
Sophie’s mother rang her “in blind panic, convinced she had just been talking to me.” Fortunately, Sophie’s mother alerted her bank and Action Fraud; although she hadn’t yet sent any money, the scammer now had her account details. In the end, no financial loss was incurred, but some embarrassment was. “It made me angry that afterwards she felt embarrassed by it,” says Sophie, “when the whole point of the scam is to exploit a parent’s instinct.”
This one has been doing the rounds for ages, so there’s no excuse for being caught out. I get them from time to time. As I’m not a parent, it’s obvious. However, one of my sisters got one and promptly contacted her son on his normal number and easily confirmed the fraud. That’s all it takes. A moment to engage the brain and double check.
Today, though, online fraud is resurgent. The princes have been deposed. Modern scams include the parcel you need to pay a delivery fee for; the job offer sent via WhatsApp; the “Hi Mum” sent from an unfamiliar number.
Not one of these is remotely sophisticated. They are preying on people who are naïve or foolish. Unlike the 419 scams that played on greed. For example, if you have to pay a delivery fee, you will know about it and have a fair idea of the amount. Usually, these scams only ask for a small amount as they are after the details, not the money at this stage. Anyone answering a random WhatsApp job offer deserves all they get, frankly. Although I’ve noticed that it seems to be Telegram rather than WhatsApp, myself.
My point stands here. Not one of these scams is believable nor are they sophisticated. A fool and his money is much the same has it always has been. I do make an exception for the elderly here as they are less inclined to be tech savvy, so are more inclined to believe these things.
I got one of those – gave it to my 14 year old son to respond to.
The scammer ended up swearing at him and his last words to the scammer were
“Sweetheart I didn’t bring you up to speak like that.”
I get two or three scam calls a week from “Microsoft” or “Amazon” or similar. If I’m not busy I play along. I see it as a public service: while they’re trying to scam me they’re not actually scamming some other poor sucker.