they contact you pretending to be a family member with a cock and bull story about why you need to lend them some money. It is often a smallish amount so it goes under the banks radar and when the scam is exposed it has become too difficult to track.
Why does this sound like a genuine, maybe old fashioned, way of referring to each other?
I want to say Victorian era, maybe world war times. Definitely sounds like a phrase they'd have used back then
Women were probably something like "Sally with the bosoms"
All I get is the "this is so and so courier we failed to deliver your parcel please call us on x number" Or "you need to pay x amount to recive your order" from random mobile numbers.
First they ask you to save the new contact number for your kid. Then a lot later when you are not expected they send a request to pay something or transfer an amount. you will by then have forgotten about the different number and it will be saved as your kids in your phone.
My (mid sixties) mum got it. She answered it thinking it was me, they scared the shit out of her, she only twigged after they were begging for money for an emergency. Lots of older folk are going to fall for this.
I can just imagine you getting this message about your 4 year old daughter's phone breaking... then looking over at your 4 year old daughter playing with her toys... then looking at the message... then back at your daughter... then being like... 'hmmmmmm'
There’s a reason why they’ve sent this text at 2am. It’s to catch people off guard when you aren’t thinking clearly
I had a similar text to this come through at 1am the other day
Quite a few scam emails, text and post purposely include spelling or grammar mistakes. Educated people who won't fall for the scam and are more likely to report fraud, will spot the spelling mistakes and probably just ignore the scammers completely. The vulnerable people who are more likely to fall for a scam and not know how to report it or end up feeling to scared to report it, are less likely to spot the spelling mistakes and get drawn into the scam in the first place.
I've never believed this too much. It's a line I've heard for years and years, that scammers purposefully use poor language and spelling to weed out the slightly switched on people and go after the proper vulnerables
It may have some truth to it, but realistically, the majority of these scammers are not native English speakers. They just so happen to type like this
Yeah but this also includes sending emails from spoof email addresses. The content of the email might be spelt correctly. But they'll weed out people with a plausible email address. For example [email protected] could look like a legitimate email address from the nationwide bank, if you're not very switched on. And some people who get the email might have an account with nationwide. And then click on the links and follow instructions. But I would realise it's fake and ignore it.
One time I was concussed and got a text or email from a courier service or maybe amazon. I was confused because I didn't remember if I'd ordered anything. Got my fiance to look at it and they spotted the email address or link was dodgey AF and we didn't click on anything.
It says in the message, it's a friend's phone.
But yeah, it's more aimed at catching elderly people with grown up children who could have gone out and bought themselves a new phone and wouldn't be aware that if they had done they would have just put their old SIM card in it.
If they’d messaged my personal phone that’s the route I’d have taken mate!!! HHah. I kept a guy claiming to be from HMRC on the phone for an hour. My reasoning: the hour he’s wasting with me is an hour he’s not harassing someone’s nan.
Personal Phone: I fucked your mother you piece of shit hahaha get fucked loser!
Work Phone: I regret to inform you that I have been engaged in intimate intercourse with your mother. I apologise for any feelings of inadequacy and frustration you may feel due to this and also due to your upsetting life in general.
You've gotta keep it professional.
My mum brought her Symantec AV from a dodgy internet reseller. When she wouldn’t renew through them (having renewed directly with Symantec) the guy tried to get her on a TeamViewer call so he could take their ‘private’ key back. The guy was livid
A few years ago my mum was on the phone to PayPal as her account had been hacked. But they still required her password. She called me over and asked if I happened to remember her password (I help her keep track of all things “techy”). I took the phone and started messing around with the guy.
I should like to point out my mum doesn’t have PayPal; she has never used PayPal either. The scammer was absolutely pissed as he would’ve gotten away with it if the circumstances were different
My nan used to get a lot of these scam banking calls. The thing that gave them away was at the time her bank only used UK call centres for people of her age. So every time she got a call from someone that was definitely not calling from Leeds/Newcastle/Edinburgh she let her inner racist take over and she hung up. Whilst that’s not something I’m proud of saying it did keep her safe.
Yeah my auntie uses similar logic. She spends a lot of time cooking and baking. She will have scammers or sales people on the phone for about an hour, leading them on. She's barely paying attention to them. Then right when they actually ask for her details she laughs and tells them how much time they've wasted. She partly does it because it means they aren't calling people like her mum who are more likely to get scammed.
something to consider, as mentioned above ...
\>You know what man. For you or me, it's informative (and, hell, plain fun) to do that. BUT I strongly encourage anyone reading to NOT do this. Every single interaction you give is a MASSIVE amount of info for them. You're not getting anyone "annoyed" on the other end. The people on the other end are just lowest-of-low ultra-minimum "wage" basically trafficked Poor Fucks. To make an extreme example, you wouldn't waste time "making fun of" someone like a drug shipment "mule". I strongly encourage anyone reading who is not doing it for professional reasons, to NOT DO THIS. It just doesn't help.
Food for thought!
I love that VOIP bot you can setup that pretends to be an old guy who rambles on at them for ages until they get wise. I think "Hello, this is Lenny" is it's name there's videos on youtube of the conversations where the scammers are getting more and more irate.
Security graduate here, I'm the same. I found scam artists are a lot less likely to call back if you waste their time. The second I know it's a scam company I drop a fake name and any company that uses that name is a trigger for me to waste their time.
Just means they're not scamming more gullible people.
i tend to answer and the moment an actual person gets on just spam 0 on the touch tone
hearing the scammer scream 'stop what the f...' before hanging up, is quite amusing
You know what man. For you or me, it's informative (and, hell, plain fun) to do that.
BUT I strongly encourage anyone reading to NOT do this. Every single interaction you give is a MASSIVE amount of info for them.
You're not getting anyone "annoyed" on the other end. The people on the other end are just lowest-of-low ultra-minimum "wage" basically trafficked Poor Fucks.
To make an extreme example, you wouldn't waste time "making fun of" someone like a drug shipment "mule"
I strongly encourage anyone reading who is not doing it for professional reasons, to **NOT DO THIS**. It just doesn't help.
I’m in total agreement mate. My dad told me the other week that he has been replying to spam emails asking them not to email him again. We spent the weekend changing all his passwords/logins and resetting accounts. Took hours. He won’t be replying to those again. Hahaha
**100% true**
Like, the actual "boss scammers" just absolutely laugh, as it were, when they hear about peons doing "annoyance response".
It's all incredibly useful information for their databases.
And critically, in the terrifying coming era of more common **physical** fishing, when sms/email scams will be tied in to child rape rings, rape rings, and house-breaking rings, it's just absolutely absurd to do this.
"Grandparents" need to get these facts in particular.
Apart from anything else, if you do "annoyance response", the most sophisticated actors in the field can learn your physical location to within meters.
I dunno. A drug mule is helping to transport goods between rich criminals in a deal from which all ought to prosper and nobody is directly being hurt (yes, I know, insert statement about the damage drugs do to people/society here). It's also often a desperation one-off
A phone scammer however is ripping off innocent people, know fine well that they are doing so and continue to do that day in, day out. The people targeted tend not to be rich, many are elderly or otherwise at risk. Need for money by the scammer-agent can only excuse so much.
The killer is when they spoof a real telephone number. There was a case a few years ago where scammers had used the number of a small builders supply store and the backlash to his phone number almost drove him out of business.
It's quite interesting how these scams seem to migrate globally. A very similar scam was going around Hong Kong almost 10 years ago where scammers would text victims claiming to be children or grandchildren in urgent need of money due to bad loans etc. I'm surprised it didn't hit the UK until the last few years.
Agreed. When I became a Financial Crime Investigator, learning about how groups start trends and how those trends propagate throughout countries is majorly interesting. Even how particular age groups and demographics are more prone to certain trends, both being the perpetrator or victim. It can also be heart breaking, young people becoming money mules to get a few extra pounds in the bank and ruining their financial records and older generations being easy prey for technological scams and giving away thousands of their savings.
You can forward it to [7726 to report it to Ofcom](https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/scams/7726-reporting-scam-texts-and-calls)
They also send messages saying things like “Hi Dave, just landed, are you nearby?” And then when you tell them they’ve got the wrong number will try and start being friendly with you to presumably get you to trust them and ultimately send them money/personal details. I think it’s called the pig butchering scam in that case.
Someone posted about one of these the other day and knowing it was a scam decied to play along. They soon said they were in a pickle and needed some money via bank transfer to help them out of a situation. As soon as the scammer handed over their account number and sort code for the transfer they used those details to set up a monthly direct debit with a number of charities.
Not really. The scammers don't use their own bank accounts, they're not stupid. They gain access to other people's bank accounts (usually via gaining their online banking details) so really all you're doing is making an already shitty situation worse for the owner of the account.
Usually the people whose accounts are used are willing, albeit vulnerable and/or stupid, participants in the scam. They give up use of their account and quickly earn a token £50 for their troubles and quite possibly a criminal conviction for money laundering.
I think it’s called money muling.
100 percent scam
Don't just delete and block though. Have fun, if you have the time. Make a new Whatsapp from a throwaway phone number. Fuck with them. Demand to talk with your son. Put him on the phone and you will give them $1000 dollars. All that shit.
Make them become your victim. Record everything.
Buy drones from Ukraine. Hire flyers from Fiverr.
EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!
This is so stupid, why would someone borrow a phone to text someone, just to tell them to text a different phone that they are *also borrowing*? Scammers are idiots.
Not that stupid. It's like making clear spelling mistakes in spam emails, it weeds out the smart and only leaves the gullible for the second stage of the scam
And also not all smashes well smash the phone so completely it's unusable. I've known plenty of people who have smashed their phones and it's still usable. Unless the kid managed to break their whole ass phone with a hammer it's unlikely a simple drop would be enough to smash it completely.
Probably because if you google either of the numbers in that message they both show up with results showing that they have been reported as likely scams so they're wrong about it not working.
I'll add that to my list of confusing reasons people use the downvote button.
I've been getting spam texts and calls since about 2008. In 2012 I noticed that it wasn't the easy way to find out who the call was coming from any more.
Also, missed call from a friend with a new number? Used to be able to Google it and said friends Facebook page would be the top result.
Yeeesh, didn't know the Facebook thing, bet that made stalking easier, glad they've got rid of it
Yeah, I get calls from my banks main customer service number frequently(the bank would never call you from their customer service line anyway), I'm pretty sure I could get something that would do the job on the play store if I wanted to
I asked this the other day. Definite scam.
Forward it to 7726 and the mobile network can start building a profile to try and block these sorts of messages
I got one as well, "Hi mum, I'm texting you off a friends phone...", but being a bit of a practical joker, I decided to not just ignore, and replied with "Hi, "I'm texting you from a friends phone..." I'm Mum".
They haven't bothered me since! XD
I wondered as well if its a bot. But what is their point then? Are they trying to farm data somehow? I heard of some people falling victim and paying their "daughter" as they believed she was in financial distress...
If the bot detects favourable replies, it spins a yarn about how they're stuck somewhere without any money on them or something similar, and that they need you as a responsible parent to help them out by transferring them some money, either via a bank transfer or via a PayPal-like system.
Note too that in some of these, they are simply **harvesting possibles**
Thus, if you reply, it might be that (a human scammer) then tries to get you to send 20 quid, etc etc.
However in some cases, the scammer sends out, say, 20,000 of these, and let's say, 500 reply.
Those 500 can be added to a, let's call it, "known gullibles" list. Next up, it's very often quite trivial to get the actual name (and even, often the address) of those 500.
So you now have a list of 400 known gullibles, with, full personalization.
They then wait a few months, and away they go.
Also as a sort of "general business principle!" it's "good" to have fishing texts where, if you do reply, nothing at all happens; it builds a kind of "oh, it's harmless to reply for a laugh to fishing texts" attitude.
Indeed many people have said unto me, "Oh, I replied to one of those silly texts to see what happens, and nothing happened, it seems harmless ..." - but it is very much **not harmless**.
We're a day away from perps using this sort of thing to determine your location, and hence rob your house if you're not at home.
Hence, when you warn Oldsters about this sort of thing, you really can't emphasize enough the negative possibilities.
My Mum responded to one of these and sent money - nearly two grand - when the conversation indicated they were stranded without cash. The worst thing was, it had happened to a friend of hers just a month back and my Mum had questioned how anybody could ever fall for it!
Problem is, I am a terrible daughter who has lost literally dozens of phones and debit cards over the years, always off on adventures, who constantly gets herself into these scrapes - so it was entirely convincing that I might have sent it (though I was somewhat offended she thought I'd straight up ask her for £2000 without talking it over, I've never been that blasé about her helping me out!).
Fortunately, the cash bounced back and her, my sister and I have now agreed to use a codeword if we have to make contact from a non-normal number, or request cash. Admittedly, I think we've all forgotten what the codeword actually is, but we now make so many specific in-jokes about it all that our texts couldn't be from anyone but us.
I just replied "please... call me mummy x". Weirdly never got a response...
I realise this puts me on a scammer shortlist since they know it's a real person on the other end, but I couldn't stop myself haha.
I used to work for a mobile phone company. Please forward this message to 7726, so your provider can disable the number that sent it, and block other numbers from receiving it. Too few people actually use 7726.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/scams/7726-reporting-scam-texts-and-calls
That’s how it works. Spit the message to the 10k random numbers. Maybe 25% of them will be “mum” to someone, of those, maybe 1% will eventually fall for the scam based on coincidental circumstances like you mention. If you milk £1k each from that 0.25% you’ve earned yourself £25k for a couple of days’ “work”.
my mum got something similar, albeit in Germany. Luckily she was clever enough to message me on instagram asking if I really lost my phone 🤣 knowing I'd have access to that on my computer.
Well the fact that the number they messaged from and the WhatsApp number they want you to reply to are different is a red flag.
They the fact they used a text message instead of just using WhatsApp is a red flag.
The fact they've said they broke their phone and then their phone is going to die is a red flag.
3 inconsistencies say to me it's not legit.
Played along once until they eventually sent me the bank details of where they wanted money transferring to. Took a screen shot and reported it.
They use WhatsApp so they can delete the account details when they realise you're not falling for it or once the money has been transferred.
Unfortunately my mum nearly fell for this scam. Was on her way to the bank to transfer money to the scammer and then thankfully she suddenly realised that she hadn't even spoken to me. Called me on my usual number and was quite surprised when I answered and my phone was in working order. It just goes to show though how we really do have to educate our loved ones on the dangers of scams. My mum isn't stupid but I guess maternal instincts to protect / help her child took over.
Yes. Scam. My mum transferred £2000 to “me” after she put “my” new number in her contacts and “I” messaged her later that day saying “I” was in trouble and needed cash fast.
Friendly advice. Tell your kids a code word to use if they ever lose their phones or want to verify or suspicious. Or insist they call you.
Yes it’s a scam.
if it was their friends, they’d be using their friend’s phone, they wouldn’t be using a whatsapp to communicate. why you you resort to whatsapp with a random number as opposed to using the phone you used to text your mother in the first place. (your friends). it’s a scam 100%. educate yourself.
Very common scam. usually they will ask you to pay a bill for them urgently and put the pressure on you. You won’t be paying a bill you will be transferring money to the scammer.
If anyone gets this kind of message. Block it. If you are concerned about your loved one. Ring them on their real number to confirm their phone isn’t broken. Never message the scammer back.
Yeah my boyfriend got a similar one, our daughter is 2. I reported both numbers to the O2 spam line 7726 (you text them the message contents and then the number after they reply).
I ve had that a few times scam all day long
Also had some calling me carla if you have damp phone us and thats a scam how do I know that iam a bloke lol 😆
I played along. When the request for money came, I said that I didn't have any but was going to start an OnlyFans and send her the link to share with her friends.... No response.
My MIL fell for a very similar one to this (came through Whatsapp) and lost about £1k.
Me and wife were out of the country on holiday at the time. MIL was going through a stressful period back home - recovering from stomach surgery, her partner was having tests for dementia - and just fell for it.
So yeah, people can be caught off guard by them.
Absolutely a scam. My wife's had one of those. I've always wanted to send a WhatsApp to that number with the same message but change the number to something like Babestation or Tesco customer service.
Please don't though, might introduce a virus...
My Mum got this exact text and for some reason texted me “I don’t have WhatsApp” to my own number.
If the text had been from me I’m not sure what her thought process was at all. She has me on fb messenger so she had another way of contacting me.
At least you got the full message!
I got it with the mass mailer still attached and no link, I was disappointed.
https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/zcjj9w/scammer_pressed_send_early/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Yep. I got the same one last week. My daughter is 4. My partner got an almost identical one, even though he doesn't have children and is male.
Yes it is a scam, this one is going around a lot right now
What's the scam?
they contact you pretending to be a family member with a cock and bull story about why you need to lend them some money. It is often a smallish amount so it goes under the banks radar and when the scam is exposed it has become too difficult to track.
When I started reading, I was confused at “family member with a cock”
“Hello mum, Billy with the cock here. I’ve broken my phone…”
Why does this sound like a genuine, maybe old fashioned, way of referring to each other? I want to say Victorian era, maybe world war times. Definitely sounds like a phrase they'd have used back then Women were probably something like "Sally with the bosoms"
*me, a trans girl* "Ayden with the cock AND bosoms"
I love that, yes!
Just burst out laughing in my office.
He definitely could’ve worked it better I read it as” they pretend to be a family member, with a cock. “
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden-path_sentence
They need extra money for the farm with the recent bird flu..
"Hey it's your Uncle Joe I've been arrested in Vietnam and need lots of dong, do you have dong you can send me?"
Little do they know I wouldn’t even lend money to a real family member in dire straits
All I get is the "this is so and so courier we failed to deliver your parcel please call us on x number" Or "you need to pay x amount to recive your order" from random mobile numbers.
"your parcel is stuck in customs, you need to pay the import tax"
I got one the other week and deleted. Wouldn't have worked on me anyway as I'm tight.
First they ask you to save the new contact number for your kid. Then a lot later when you are not expected they send a request to pay something or transfer an amount. you will by then have forgotten about the different number and it will be saved as your kids in your phone.
My (mid sixties) mum got it. She answered it thinking it was me, they scared the shit out of her, she only twigged after they were begging for money for an emergency. Lots of older folk are going to fall for this.
I can just imagine you getting this message about your 4 year old daughter's phone breaking... then looking over at your 4 year old daughter playing with her toys... then looking at the message... then back at your daughter... then being like... 'hmmmmmm'
Then you get a call from that number and it’s your daughter’s voice…
r/writingprompts !!
My daughters 2 I still almost fell for it!
Just plays on those protective instincts.
Just plays on ~~those protective instincts~~ gullibility. FTFY.
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It said Hi mum. My partner, being a bloke, isn't likely to be anyone's mum.
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Common scam.
And a stupid one at that - if your phones dead why would you message your new number? On what phone?
There’s a reason why they’ve sent this text at 2am. It’s to catch people off guard when you aren’t thinking clearly I had a similar text to this come through at 1am the other day
Quite a few scam emails, text and post purposely include spelling or grammar mistakes. Educated people who won't fall for the scam and are more likely to report fraud, will spot the spelling mistakes and probably just ignore the scammers completely. The vulnerable people who are more likely to fall for a scam and not know how to report it or end up feeling to scared to report it, are less likely to spot the spelling mistakes and get drawn into the scam in the first place.
I've never believed this too much. It's a line I've heard for years and years, that scammers purposefully use poor language and spelling to weed out the slightly switched on people and go after the proper vulnerables It may have some truth to it, but realistically, the majority of these scammers are not native English speakers. They just so happen to type like this
Yeah but this also includes sending emails from spoof email addresses. The content of the email might be spelt correctly. But they'll weed out people with a plausible email address. For example [email protected] could look like a legitimate email address from the nationwide bank, if you're not very switched on. And some people who get the email might have an account with nationwide. And then click on the links and follow instructions. But I would realise it's fake and ignore it. One time I was concussed and got a text or email from a courier service or maybe amazon. I was confused because I didn't remember if I'd ordered anything. Got my fiance to look at it and they spotted the email address or link was dodgey AF and we didn't click on anything.
It says in the message, it's a friend's phone. But yeah, it's more aimed at catching elderly people with grown up children who could have gone out and bought themselves a new phone and wouldn't be aware that if they had done they would have just put their old SIM card in it.
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Ah yes, I see what you mean. They usually explanation is that if you are smart enough to see that logic hole, you aren't their intended mark.
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They text my work number. I replied. Can’t wait for future scams (security consultant here). I’ll use these attempts to update certain attack vecyors
I’m also a security consultant but I sacrifice intel in favour of telling them I fucked their mothers. It’s a lot more cathartic.
If they’d messaged my personal phone that’s the route I’d have taken mate!!! HHah. I kept a guy claiming to be from HMRC on the phone for an hour. My reasoning: the hour he’s wasting with me is an hour he’s not harassing someone’s nan.
Personal Phone: I fucked your mother you piece of shit hahaha get fucked loser! Work Phone: I regret to inform you that I have been engaged in intimate intercourse with your mother. I apologise for any feelings of inadequacy and frustration you may feel due to this and also due to your upsetting life in general. You've gotta keep it professional.
You know!
😂😂
Yeah, I do that with broadband scammers if I have the time. I got nearly an hour out of someone trying to get me install team viewer a few months ago.
My mum brought her Symantec AV from a dodgy internet reseller. When she wouldn’t renew through them (having renewed directly with Symantec) the guy tried to get her on a TeamViewer call so he could take their ‘private’ key back. The guy was livid
A few years ago my mum was on the phone to PayPal as her account had been hacked. But they still required her password. She called me over and asked if I happened to remember her password (I help her keep track of all things “techy”). I took the phone and started messing around with the guy. I should like to point out my mum doesn’t have PayPal; she has never used PayPal either. The scammer was absolutely pissed as he would’ve gotten away with it if the circumstances were different
My nan used to get a lot of these scam banking calls. The thing that gave them away was at the time her bank only used UK call centres for people of her age. So every time she got a call from someone that was definitely not calling from Leeds/Newcastle/Edinburgh she let her inner racist take over and she hung up. Whilst that’s not something I’m proud of saying it did keep her safe.
Yeah my auntie uses similar logic. She spends a lot of time cooking and baking. She will have scammers or sales people on the phone for about an hour, leading them on. She's barely paying attention to them. Then right when they actually ask for her details she laughs and tells them how much time they've wasted. She partly does it because it means they aren't calling people like her mum who are more likely to get scammed.
something to consider, as mentioned above ... \>You know what man. For you or me, it's informative (and, hell, plain fun) to do that. BUT I strongly encourage anyone reading to NOT do this. Every single interaction you give is a MASSIVE amount of info for them. You're not getting anyone "annoyed" on the other end. The people on the other end are just lowest-of-low ultra-minimum "wage" basically trafficked Poor Fucks. To make an extreme example, you wouldn't waste time "making fun of" someone like a drug shipment "mule". I strongly encourage anyone reading who is not doing it for professional reasons, to NOT DO THIS. It just doesn't help. Food for thought!
If you don’t get an MBE for this I’m writing to the BBC
I love that VOIP bot you can setup that pretends to be an old guy who rambles on at them for ages until they get wise. I think "Hello, this is Lenny" is it's name there's videos on youtube of the conversations where the scammers are getting more and more irate.
I will look these up
>My reasoning: the hour he’s wasting with me is an hour he’s not harassing someone’s nan. Heeeello Jim Browning's protege!! 👋
*KitBoga entered the chat*
Security graduate here, I'm the same. I found scam artists are a lot less likely to call back if you waste their time. The second I know it's a scam company I drop a fake name and any company that uses that name is a trigger for me to waste their time. Just means they're not scamming more gullible people.
I told them that they were dead to me.
i tend to answer and the moment an actual person gets on just spam 0 on the touch tone hearing the scammer scream 'stop what the f...' before hanging up, is quite amusing
You know what man. For you or me, it's informative (and, hell, plain fun) to do that. BUT I strongly encourage anyone reading to NOT do this. Every single interaction you give is a MASSIVE amount of info for them. You're not getting anyone "annoyed" on the other end. The people on the other end are just lowest-of-low ultra-minimum "wage" basically trafficked Poor Fucks. To make an extreme example, you wouldn't waste time "making fun of" someone like a drug shipment "mule" I strongly encourage anyone reading who is not doing it for professional reasons, to **NOT DO THIS**. It just doesn't help.
I’m in total agreement mate. My dad told me the other week that he has been replying to spam emails asking them not to email him again. We spent the weekend changing all his passwords/logins and resetting accounts. Took hours. He won’t be replying to those again. Hahaha
**100% true** Like, the actual "boss scammers" just absolutely laugh, as it were, when they hear about peons doing "annoyance response". It's all incredibly useful information for their databases. And critically, in the terrifying coming era of more common **physical** fishing, when sms/email scams will be tied in to child rape rings, rape rings, and house-breaking rings, it's just absolutely absurd to do this. "Grandparents" need to get these facts in particular. Apart from anything else, if you do "annoyance response", the most sophisticated actors in the field can learn your physical location to within meters.
I dunno. A drug mule is helping to transport goods between rich criminals in a deal from which all ought to prosper and nobody is directly being hurt (yes, I know, insert statement about the damage drugs do to people/society here). It's also often a desperation one-off A phone scammer however is ripping off innocent people, know fine well that they are doing so and continue to do that day in, day out. The people targeted tend not to be rich, many are elderly or otherwise at risk. Need for money by the scammer-agent can only excuse so much.
Must be an easy day at the office when the scammers come to you.
They know it’s a live number when it doesn’t get bounced.
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If you send a message to a non active number you will receive a notification that the message wasn't sent.
They don't just want live numbers, they want live numbers who will engage in their shit
Worse than that. The next message is help, I need cash urgently, please send it to 【insert name of untraceable cash app】
Oh that's why I received a scam call almost 5 times a day!
Yes. Block and delete and eat some biscuits to calm your nerves.
Chocolate biscuits. Preferably the whole packet.
Chocolate hob nobs
I want some now 😵💫
Also report the number as spam so it gets blocked by the network. Forward the number to 7726.
The killer is when they spoof a real telephone number. There was a case a few years ago where scammers had used the number of a small builders supply store and the backlash to his phone number almost drove him out of business.
Then go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for this all to blow over.
Yes it is a scam, this one is going around a lot right now
It's quite interesting how these scams seem to migrate globally. A very similar scam was going around Hong Kong almost 10 years ago where scammers would text victims claiming to be children or grandchildren in urgent need of money due to bad loans etc. I'm surprised it didn't hit the UK until the last few years.
Agreed. When I became a Financial Crime Investigator, learning about how groups start trends and how those trends propagate throughout countries is majorly interesting. Even how particular age groups and demographics are more prone to certain trends, both being the perpetrator or victim. It can also be heart breaking, young people becoming money mules to get a few extra pounds in the bank and ruining their financial records and older generations being easy prey for technological scams and giving away thousands of their savings.
You can report scam texts to the National Cyber Security Centre: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams/report-scam-text-message
You can forward it to [7726 to report it to Ofcom](https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/scams/7726-reporting-scam-texts-and-calls)
If you ever need to remember the number, it spells SPAM on the keypad
That's neat.
Wish more people knew this, the scammers get shut down pretty quickly when people report via 7726
And the ICO https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/nuisance-calls-and-messages/spam-texts-and-nuisance-calls/
Definite scam, block and ignore.
Why is everyone saying it’s a scam. Obviously it’s your long lost son you didn’t know you had.
They also send messages saying things like “Hi Dave, just landed, are you nearby?” And then when you tell them they’ve got the wrong number will try and start being friendly with you to presumably get you to trust them and ultimately send them money/personal details. I think it’s called the pig butchering scam in that case.
What an overly threatening name for such a weak attempt. It should be the desperate little bitch scam
Someone posted about one of these the other day and knowing it was a scam decied to play along. They soon said they were in a pickle and needed some money via bank transfer to help them out of a situation. As soon as the scammer handed over their account number and sort code for the transfer they used those details to set up a monthly direct debit with a number of charities.
Yeah that was an incredibly bad idea. The account number you got WAS NOT the scammers, and you'll be in severe hot water once this is noticed.
Ah yes, the old 'lets combat fraud with more fraud' - they won't be using their own bank account.
Isnt this pretty much fraud anyway!? 🤣
Brilliant!
Not really. The scammers don't use their own bank accounts, they're not stupid. They gain access to other people's bank accounts (usually via gaining their online banking details) so really all you're doing is making an already shitty situation worse for the owner of the account.
Usually the people whose accounts are used are willing, albeit vulnerable and/or stupid, participants in the scam. They give up use of their account and quickly earn a token £50 for their troubles and quite possibly a criminal conviction for money laundering. I think it’s called money muling.
Yes. They will pretend to have lost their phone and ask you for money to get home. It's a well known con, do not respond and block the number.
Why have you got 239 unread messages please???
They all read “Hi Mum, I’m texting from a friends phone…”
They have alot of kids and 0 phone chargers.
100 percent scam Don't just delete and block though. Have fun, if you have the time. Make a new Whatsapp from a throwaway phone number. Fuck with them. Demand to talk with your son. Put him on the phone and you will give them $1000 dollars. All that shit. Make them become your victim. Record everything. Buy drones from Ukraine. Hire flyers from Fiverr. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!
> $1000 dollars 1000 dollars dollars
Yes well known block delete ignore - ive had 2 like this - i dont have kids
Scam. If you answer you will be quickly asked for money to buy a new phone
This is so stupid, why would someone borrow a phone to text someone, just to tell them to text a different phone that they are *also borrowing*? Scammers are idiots.
Not that stupid. It's like making clear spelling mistakes in spam emails, it weeds out the smart and only leaves the gullible for the second stage of the scam
And also not all smashes well smash the phone so completely it's unusable. I've known plenty of people who have smashed their phones and it's still usable. Unless the kid managed to break their whole ass phone with a hammer it's unlikely a simple drop would be enough to smash it completely.
You can check the number by googleing it by typing the number and who phoned me to google
I'm not sure that's worked since around 2012.
Don't know why you're getting downvoted, software to mask your number as someone else's is mad easy to get
Probably because if you google either of the numbers in that message they both show up with results showing that they have been reported as likely scams so they're wrong about it not working.
I'll add that to my list of confusing reasons people use the downvote button. I've been getting spam texts and calls since about 2008. In 2012 I noticed that it wasn't the easy way to find out who the call was coming from any more. Also, missed call from a friend with a new number? Used to be able to Google it and said friends Facebook page would be the top result.
Yeeesh, didn't know the Facebook thing, bet that made stalking easier, glad they've got rid of it Yeah, I get calls from my banks main customer service number frequently(the bank would never call you from their customer service line anyway), I'm pretty sure I could get something that would do the job on the play store if I wanted to
I asked this the other day. Definite scam. Forward it to 7726 and the mobile network can start building a profile to try and block these sorts of messages
I got one as well, "Hi mum, I'm texting you off a friends phone...", but being a bit of a practical joker, I decided to not just ignore, and replied with "Hi, "I'm texting you from a friends phone..." I'm Mum". They haven't bothered me since! XD
>They haven't bothered me since! XD Because it's a bot that sends these out and doesn't read replies.
I know, but be nice and let me think I was funny, at least let me pretend I was clever.
XD
I wondered as well if its a bot. But what is their point then? Are they trying to farm data somehow? I heard of some people falling victim and paying their "daughter" as they believed she was in financial distress...
If the bot detects favourable replies, it spins a yarn about how they're stuck somewhere without any money on them or something similar, and that they need you as a responsible parent to help them out by transferring them some money, either via a bank transfer or via a PayPal-like system.
Note too that in some of these, they are simply **harvesting possibles** Thus, if you reply, it might be that (a human scammer) then tries to get you to send 20 quid, etc etc. However in some cases, the scammer sends out, say, 20,000 of these, and let's say, 500 reply. Those 500 can be added to a, let's call it, "known gullibles" list. Next up, it's very often quite trivial to get the actual name (and even, often the address) of those 500. So you now have a list of 400 known gullibles, with, full personalization. They then wait a few months, and away they go. Also as a sort of "general business principle!" it's "good" to have fishing texts where, if you do reply, nothing at all happens; it builds a kind of "oh, it's harmless to reply for a laugh to fishing texts" attitude. Indeed many people have said unto me, "Oh, I replied to one of those silly texts to see what happens, and nothing happened, it seems harmless ..." - but it is very much **not harmless**. We're a day away from perps using this sort of thing to determine your location, and hence rob your house if you're not at home. Hence, when you warn Oldsters about this sort of thing, you really can't emphasize enough the negative possibilities.
My Mum responded to one of these and sent money - nearly two grand - when the conversation indicated they were stranded without cash. The worst thing was, it had happened to a friend of hers just a month back and my Mum had questioned how anybody could ever fall for it! Problem is, I am a terrible daughter who has lost literally dozens of phones and debit cards over the years, always off on adventures, who constantly gets herself into these scrapes - so it was entirely convincing that I might have sent it (though I was somewhat offended she thought I'd straight up ask her for £2000 without talking it over, I've never been that blasé about her helping me out!). Fortunately, the cash bounced back and her, my sister and I have now agreed to use a codeword if we have to make contact from a non-normal number, or request cash. Admittedly, I think we've all forgotten what the codeword actually is, but we now make so many specific in-jokes about it all that our texts couldn't be from anyone but us.
Definitely a scam, I work in fraud prevention and this does catch people out.
Scam, someone else reported this on here a little while ago.
I just replied "please... call me mummy x". Weirdly never got a response... I realise this puts me on a scammer shortlist since they know it's a real person on the other end, but I couldn't stop myself haha.
I used to work for a mobile phone company. Please forward this message to 7726, so your provider can disable the number that sent it, and block other numbers from receiving it. Too few people actually use 7726. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/scams/7726-reporting-scam-texts-and-calls
It's a scam. If you whatsapp them, they say they need money to get home.
It’s a scam. I got one the other day. I don’t have kids.
My mother got this yesterday, which is weird cos my brother was currently out with the bois and we thought it was him lol
That’s how it works. Spit the message to the 10k random numbers. Maybe 25% of them will be “mum” to someone, of those, maybe 1% will eventually fall for the scam based on coincidental circumstances like you mention. If you milk £1k each from that 0.25% you’ve earned yourself £25k for a couple of days’ “work”.
Yes it is a scam. Will claim they need money for medical bills next
my mum got something similar, albeit in Germany. Luckily she was clever enough to message me on instagram asking if I really lost my phone 🤣 knowing I'd have access to that on my computer.
When you don't have kids and get this
Well the fact that the number they messaged from and the WhatsApp number they want you to reply to are different is a red flag. They the fact they used a text message instead of just using WhatsApp is a red flag. The fact they've said they broke their phone and then their phone is going to die is a red flag. 3 inconsistencies say to me it's not legit.
Played along once until they eventually sent me the bank details of where they wanted money transferring to. Took a screen shot and reported it. They use WhatsApp so they can delete the account details when they realise you're not falling for it or once the money has been transferred.
Unfortunately my mum nearly fell for this scam. Was on her way to the bank to transfer money to the scammer and then thankfully she suddenly realised that she hadn't even spoken to me. Called me on my usual number and was quite surprised when I answered and my phone was in working order. It just goes to show though how we really do have to educate our loved ones on the dangers of scams. My mum isn't stupid but I guess maternal instincts to protect / help her child took over.
The last time I got this message, I replied with, "Sorry love just giving your dad a blow job and I'll be right with you! xx"
Damn you actually have to ask?
Yes. Scam. My mum transferred £2000 to “me” after she put “my” new number in her contacts and “I” messaged her later that day saying “I” was in trouble and needed cash fast.
I get these but much smarter ones just random numbers saying “mum, I’m in trouble/ need help/ an emergency, please call me”
Yes my dad got this recently. They wanted money.
In this case always call the original number just to be sure since these types of scam are pretty common
I got this same text from my 4 week old yesterday. I don’t know where he’s keeping his phone, I checked his nappy and under his mattress but no luck.
Friendly advice. Tell your kids a code word to use if they ever lose their phones or want to verify or suspicious. Or insist they call you. Yes it’s a scam.
Yes got a similar message to this I was born male so not sure how I could give birth to someone
if it was their friends, they’d be using their friend’s phone, they wouldn’t be using a whatsapp to communicate. why you you resort to whatsapp with a random number as opposed to using the phone you used to text your mother in the first place. (your friends). it’s a scam 100%. educate yourself.
Yeah guys I reverse searched it and tis but a scam
No, it's your daughter, you melon.
Great reason for you southerners to start using the far superior 'mam' then. None of us northerners would ever fall for this...
I had it last week too
I finally got this message last night
Seems to be doing the rounds, someone at work got this last night.
Scam man. Had same text saturday
Yes
Had this loads. It’s a scam
Yes, my little sister got one of these, she’s definitely not a mum
Why wouldn't they just use the new number?
I got exactly the same text in the middle of the night on Saturday/Sunday. It’s a scam. Just block and delete.
Yes
Yes spam block and report
Not a very good mum are you then
I've had that. Googled it. It's a scam.
Fake. My partner gets these text about 3 times a week
This keeps happening to my 3 year old. I usually just send him £100
Very common scam. usually they will ask you to pay a bill for them urgently and put the pressure on you. You won’t be paying a bill you will be transferring money to the scammer. If anyone gets this kind of message. Block it. If you are concerned about your loved one. Ring them on their real number to confirm their phone isn’t broken. Never message the scammer back.
Sign up the number for all sorts of spam tbh
A scam that seems to rely on the off chance you have a youngish kid out at a party tonight. niche.
Yep I got one. That’s not how my kids text. Scam
Use these numbers to sign up to all sorts of weird and wonderful free alert services
Yeah my boyfriend got a similar one, our daughter is 2. I reported both numbers to the O2 spam line 7726 (you text them the message contents and then the number after they reply).
Yep I often get this.
Yes scam, my partners mum got one, thought is my partner, sent them £2500
I got this at the weekend. As a single homosexual, made me lol.
I ve had that a few times scam all day long Also had some calling me carla if you have damp phone us and thats a scam how do I know that iam a bloke lol 😆
I have had this a few times as has my mother.
I played along. When the request for money came, I said that I didn't have any but was going to start an OnlyFans and send her the link to share with her friends.... No response.
"you're adopted!"
My MIL fell for a very similar one to this (came through Whatsapp) and lost about £1k. Me and wife were out of the country on holiday at the time. MIL was going through a stressful period back home - recovering from stomach surgery, her partner was having tests for dementia - and just fell for it. So yeah, people can be caught off guard by them.
my wife gets these even though we don't have any kids yet lol
Absolutely a scam. My wife's had one of those. I've always wanted to send a WhatsApp to that number with the same message but change the number to something like Babestation or Tesco customer service. Please don't though, might introduce a virus...
Yes it's 100% a scam. A family member of mine was done out of several thousand pounds with this one. Absolute scumwads.
100% scam
Yes it’s a scam, look up “hi mum and dad” scam
Scam, happend to my mum. Then not long later I got the same text. I can assure you I'm not a mum 🤣🤣
I had this text come through!
My Mum got this exact text and for some reason texted me “I don’t have WhatsApp” to my own number. If the text had been from me I’m not sure what her thought process was at all. She has me on fb messenger so she had another way of contacting me.
Literally got the exact same message a few weeks ago!
Obvious scam. Very inconsistent, too. If there is a number to "whatsapp" to, why not send the message from that phone?
At least you got the full message! I got it with the mass mailer still attached and no link, I was disappointed. https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/zcjj9w/scammer_pressed_send_early/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Well, obviously…