Police warns
Fake children via Whatsapp – scammers take money out of worried parents’ pockets
© Yui Mok/PA Wire / DPA
The “grandchild trick” is evolving: the Bad Segeberg police department warns of a new scam in which the alleged children report with a new number and ask for money – as soon as possible.
Suddenly, a stranger’s phone number calls via Whatsapp – your own child writes. The cell phone is broken and you need money immediately. This is followed by bank details and the demand for real-time transfers of thousands of euros. What seems absurd at first glance is apparently becoming a nuisance in Schleswig-Holstein – and it works!
“Mobile phone broken – need money”
the Bad Segeberg Police Department warns in a recent message of this fairly new scam, which is mainly spreading via Whatsapp. According to this, several people had reported who should be taken out of their money with the same procedure. Her own child, without a name, of course, sent a message and asked for help – the cell phone was broken.
In the course of the scam, several demands for large sums of money follow. In the specific cases that the police have received, it was between 2,600 and 4,600 euros. What the alleged children need so much money for is not clear from the officials’ report. It would be way too much for a new cell phone.
But the emergency situation works: the criminal police reports on several cases in which concerned parents sent the money without hesitation. And as desired by real-time transfer. The perpetrators demand this because with such a payment there is no chance of initiating a chargeback or asking the bank for help. What’s gone is gone.
Eye unfamiliar contacts critically
The police advise to be extremely sensitive to messages from unknown contacts. As with the grandchild trick, the perpetrators rely on emotional blindness and quick reactions that leave no room for reflection. The officials write that one should never respond to financial demands by text message, email or phone call.
The easiest thing to do after such contact is to immediately call the person who allegedly answered with the new phone number. Very often one learns within a few minutes that no contact has been made and that other people are hiding behind the payment requests.
You should then report it to the police, they said. Even if it is not known who is hiding behind the number, you should write it down, give it to the officials and block it on your own cell phone.