She said: “Scammers send messages that appear to come from a friend or family member asking for personal information, money or a six-digit pin number. Louise Baxter, head of the National Trading Standards scams team and Friends Against Scams, said reports of “friend-in-need” scams have been growing in recent months. "A friend in need is a friend worth calling." “If you receive a suspicious message (even if you think you know who it is from), calling or requesting a voice note is the fastest and simplest way to check someone is who they say they are.
#Whatsapp scams verification
"We advise all users never to share their six-digit pin code with others, not even friends or family, and recommend that all users set up two-step verification for added security." Kathryn Harnett, policy manager at WhatsApp, said: “WhatsApp protects our users’ personal messages with end-to-end encryption, but we want to remind people that we all have a role to play in keeping our accounts safe by remaining vigilant to the threat of scammers. If it turns out to be untrue, report it to Action Fraud. Only when you are 100% sure the request is from someone you know and trust, should you consider it.
– Call: Verify that it really is your friend or family member by calling them directly, or asking them to share a voice note. – Think: Does this request make sense? Are they asking for money? Remember that scammers prey on people’s kindness, trust and willingness to help. Make sure your WhatsApp two-step verification is switched on to protect your account, that you are happy with your privacy settings. Stay up to date with the very latest from your Birmingham or West Midlands street or neighbourhood with our Birmingham News Email Updates.– Stop: Take time before you respond. Almost £700 million was lost to fraudsters in April, according to Action Fraud. They were able to retrieve £5,000 back, but she still remains out of pocket. Santander, the bank she uses, said Mrs Briscoe had been warned about WhatsApp scams - but insisted on carrying out payments. It left her with anxiety and she "still feel very angry about it."
She added: "I said 'how did you know I had this money?' Good job I have my savings." She said she had become so panicked she made the transactions quickly. The scammer, claiming to be her son, kept saying he needed help. This exchange ended up costing her £10,000 over several transactions. That was my first mistake, giving them the name of my son," she added. She explained after how she asked if it was her son, Ed - and in doing so, made an error. READ MORE : Inside lavish lifestyle of wanted fraudster who fled to Dubai owing HMRC £2.2m Speaking to ITV's This Morning, Mrs Briscoe, from Dorset, said: "I was at the office and I got this message which said 'please change my mobile number to this one', so I immediately said I'd do it." She made four separate transactions which cost her all her life savings. She was asked for help to make payments that he had "forgotten" to make. It related to fraudsters impersonating her son and asking them for money.Īngela Briscoe was sent messages from a scammer pretending to be her son who was travelling in Mexico. A mum was conned out of almost £10,000 of her life savings after becoming a victim of a sophisticated 'mother and father WhatsApp scam'.
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