I was recently a victim of cyber crime. I am a retiree with a large pension pot amassed from personal investments, and a financially savvy person. I am very aware of phishing and telephone fraud schemes and can usually spot them.
However on this occasion I didn’t spot the scam until it was too late. My son is studying in the USA and I am supporting him financially, so he will often ask for a little extra help. We communicate exclusively by WhatsApp.
I recently received a WhatsApp from him saying that he had lost his phone and that he was borrowing a phone from a friend. He said that he was in trouble because he needed to repay a loan and his banking app was on his lost phone.
After many back and forth WhatsApp messages he assured me he would explain everything when he gets his new phone. The ‘borrowed’ phone was a UK number so I didn’t call it as I knew roaming charges could add up.
Action Fraud recently reported that family WhatsApp scams cost victims across the whole banking sector more than £1.5 million between February and June this year.
My son will often use my credit card for purchases with my permission, so on this occasion when he asked for the one-time password I gave it to him. About four hours later my son sent me a WhatsApp from his usual US number and it became apparent that I had been talking to someone who was impersonating him.
This is a very clever scheme because it was a Sunday and as the bank offices were closed it took some time to contact their…
