Criminals are constantly finding new ways to cheat. Recently, they have been using a rather cunning method of extorting money “for mom”, less known than scams against a granddaughter or a policeman. Here’s how not to fall for the bait and not lose your savings.
Cybercriminals have been using our relationships for years to steal data or money. The granddaughter method is already so widely known that it is becoming less effective for Polish scammers. But they always find new ways.
“Mom” scam - a new phone for a child or a theft of money?
In 2023, the “mothers” scam has become a new trend. This is really smart social engineering, so even cautious people can fall for it, the CERT Orange Polska team warns. The target of the attack are titled mothers. Even better for the scammer if he has children who live elsewhere: a hostel, his own apartment, and so on.
The scammer starts by contacting a given phone number, it can even be chosen randomly. Most often, he just writes “hello mom” and says that this is a new number, and the old one can be deleted. Contrary to appearances, the offender has a good chance of getting into the room of a woman who also has children.
After such a “substitution” of a son or daughter, the swindler moves on to specifics. He often translates conversations to WhatsApp or another popular messenger, and then launches a fake story. The number is new because the old phone is lost or damaged - there is even a script version with a phone that … fell into the toilet.
Currently, it is impossible to live without a smartphone, so the “child” has already bought a new one. And then you still need to quickly pay off the bill. In the end, the swindler asks his mother to transfer money to him, for example, 2500 złoty. He hides that his banking app doesn’t work because it was activated on an old, broken phone.
How not to get caught?
It is always worth analyzing such situations into the main factors and paying attention to certain alarming signals. This is the best way to catch a scammer.
First, there is always some urgency in fraud. The phone should be turned on now, the bill should be paid today - this should lull our attention and make us act quickly, sometimes less deliberately. We should always be a little suspicious when someone suddenly wants to get a large sum of money from us. You can go a day without a smartphone, and a parent can make sure that he really helps the child, and not a scammer.
Second, let’s look at moving conversations to other places. This is a constant ploy of hackers. They can start a conversation in many places - on Allegro, on a dating site or on Facebook. However, very often they want to transfer it to a messenger that is more private, free or has no moderation. As a result, they cover their tracks.
It is also always worth making sure that the messages you send really come from our loved ones. Let’s call the old number and if our (perhaps a little surprised) child picks up the phone, the scammer will immediately burn.
Even if the son or daughter really broke the phone and changed the number, we still require voice contact. When we become suspicious, scammers often give up on the “action” and cut off the connection. A short confirmation call shouldn’t be a problem for a member of our family. Requesting a live meeting will also work in a similar way.
Source: Wprost
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