Almost £700 million was lost to fraudsters in April, according to Action Fraud. They were able to retrieve £5,000 back, but she still remains out of pocket. Santander, the bank she uses, said Mrs Briscoe had been warned about WhatsApp scams - but insisted on carrying out payments.
It left her with anxiety and she "still feel very angry about it." She added: "I said 'how did you know I had this money?' Good job I have my savings." She said she had become so panicked she made the transactions quickly. The scammer, claiming to be her son, kept saying he needed help. This exchange ended up costing her £10,000 over several transactions. That was my first mistake, giving them the name of my son," she added. WhatsApp cybercrime is on the rise as a result of the platform’s increasing accessibility and popularity, with each victim losing thousands of dollars on average. She explained after how she asked if it was her son, Ed - and in doing so, made an error. WhatsApp has evolved into a simple method for fraudsters to disseminate scam messages via numerous channels with the aim of luring unsuspecting people into an online scam. READ MORE : Inside lavish lifestyle of wanted fraudster who fled to Dubai owing HMRC £2.2m Whatsapp Fake Admin First, if you have WhatsApp installed on your mobile, you might receive an email or a text message claiming to be sent by the WhatsApp admin. Speaking to ITV's This Morning, Mrs Briscoe, from Dorset, said: "I was at the office and I got this message which said 'please change my mobile number to this one', so I immediately said I'd do it." There are five types of Whatsapp scams that are very common these days.
She made four separate transactions which cost her all her life savings. She was asked for help to make payments that he had "forgotten" to make. It related to fraudsters impersonating her son and asking them for money.Īngela Briscoe was sent messages from a scammer pretending to be her son who was travelling in Mexico. The WhatsApp scammers already know that the victim will get a call from WhatsApp simultaneously, so the call goes to voicemail. If anyone falls victim to a scam, they should contact their bank and then report it to their local police too.A mum was conned out of almost £10,000 of her life savings after becoming a victim of a sophisticated 'mother and father WhatsApp scam'. Police also reminded people not to engage with scammers and to report any incidents to them immediately. While most did not buy into to the scam, police urged people to make sure vulnerable and elderly family members, who were more vulnerable, were aware of these tactics.īanks, police, and government agencies will never contact people out of the blue and ask for your password, credit card or bank details. "The scammer then attempts to obtain the victim's credit card information." "Victims of this scam have received a message from an unknown number, claiming to be a loved one who has just lost their phone and got a replacement. However, the scam had now evolved to the point that they also impersonate banks, police or a government agency, police said. Police advice is: if in doubt as to a person's legitimacy, ask if you can call them back, or if you know them well, ask them a personal question - for example their date of birth, maiden name, pet name or name of a sibling. The scammers usually pretend to be loved ones in difficulty and in particular need of money, police said.
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