An Adelaide mum who lost more than $5,000 to scammers posing as her son has spoken out about the experience in an effort to stop others falling prey to the same insidious and deceptive tactics.
Key points:
- The deception involves scammers posing as desperate daughters or sons
- Messages are sent to parents asking for urgent funds
- The ACCC says at least $2.6 million has been lost
Sue* told ABC Radio Adelaide’s Sonya Feldhoff she recently fell victim to what has been dubbed the ‘Hi Mum’ or ‘Hey Mum’ scam.
Victims receive text or WhatsApp messages purportedly from their own children urgently seeking money, but using unrecognised numbers.
“To find out the next day it wasn’t your son you were speaking to, it’s like a real invasion,” Sue said.
“It’s just a terrible feeling — you think, ‘Who was I conversing with this whole time?'”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is aware of losses of $2.6 million linked to the scam.
But deputy chair Delia Rickard said the true amount could be several times that figure.
“It is a very effective one because it tugs on your heartstrings,” she said.
Ms Rickard said there had been more than 1,150 reports of the scam, and about two thirds of victims were women over 55.
“[The scammers] will have an excuse like, ‘I’ve dropped my…
