I got scammed out of £1.5k on WhatsApp – here’s where I went wrong

A 75-YEAR-OLD Brit has told of his anger after scammers on WhatsApp fooled him into sending them hundreds of pounds.

Hoodwinked retiree John (not his real name) lost £1,500 to cunning cyber crooks posing as his granddaughter on the popular messaging service.

AlamyA man has told of his anger after WhatsApp scammers tricked him out of £1,500[/caption]

HandoutThe 75-year-old retiree transferred the cash using his banking app[/caption]

Speaking to The Sun, the Cumbria native described how his ordeal has left him feeling foolish – and almost out of pocket ahead of the holiday season.

“It won’t ruin Christmas,” said John, “but it will be severely curtailed as we are not a rich family.”

MYSTERIOUS MESSAGE

It all started earlier this month when John’s son, Henry (also not his real name), received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number.

The sender purported to be his teenage daughter – John’s granddaughter – on a new phone after her old one went dead. It was, in fact, a scammer.

“She told her father that she’s been a fool and had developed haemorrhoids, which she was very embarrassed about,” John said.

“She said she went to the local doctors, who due to the Covid-19 situation obviously laughed her out of sight.

“She said that she then went to a private doctor in Chester to get the haemorrhoids sorted.”

The bill totted up to £1,550.10, the trickster-in-disguise claimed in further WhatsApp messages, and needed paying right away.

Henry was unable to fork out the cash for what he thought was his daughter’s medical bill, so went to the “bank of Mum and Dad”, as John puts it.

He transferred the money using his banking app to someone who the scammer told him was the expecting private doctor.

“At that stage, we’re just thinking ‘we’ve loaned money to pay a bill for our granddaughter over something as silly as haemorrhoids’,” John said.

RUTHLESS CON

It only dawned on him the next day that he may have fallen victim to a sly con.

After a number of calls to his granddaughter went straight to her answering machine, one finally got through.

“She very quickly said ‘I’ve got no problem with haemorrhoids’,” John recalled.

“Then the star lit up and all of a sudden we knew we’d lost our money.”

John, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect the identities of his son and granddaughter, said he felt “very angry” when he realised he’d been had.

He considers himself pretty scam-savvy and had never fallen for one before.

This one was particularly convincing, however, because the conman knew his granddaughter’s name and was able to WhatsApp his son’s work phone – the number for which is strictly only shared with colleagues and close family.

“What made it so convincing is that they were talking about people we knew, people who you would help any time in your life,” he said.

“Imagine you have a granddaughter who’s in trouble and says ‘I’ll pay you right back as soon as my mobile is working again’.

“In your eyes, there is no loss factor, you’re going to get your money back in what you hope will be just a few days.”

John’s bank, First Direct, initially wouldn’t pay him back the money he lost because he apparently didn’t act sensibly enough under the circumstances.

However, after The Sun got in contact with the bank a decision was made to provide him with a full refund.

A First Direct spokesperson said: “We sympathise with anyone who has been the victim of a fraud or scam and can appreciate how traumatic it can be.

“We independently investigate every case in accordance with the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code to ensure a fair and reasonable outcome for the customer.

“As this case highlights, scammers are unscrupulous criminals who use a range of techniques to exploit their victims.

“We encourage people to be on their guard, especially when contacted out of the blue with unusual or unexpected requests.”

SAGE ADVICE

John’s advice to others is to be wary of the fact that those who message you on WhatsApp may not be who they same.

He also suggests ensuring that you speak to loved ones on the phone before sending them any cash.

“Do not part with any money for someone you haven’t heard of before,” he told The Sun.

“If you believe it to be somebody you know well, get them to ring you and speak to you.

“Do not do it over text message or a WhatsApp message. They are not reliable.”

His tips were echoed by experts. Jake Moore, a specialist at cyber security firm ESET who spent 14 years investigating computer crime for Dorset police, said scams like these are all too easy to fall for.

“It may seem completely unbelievable that anyone could get manipulated in such a way that ends up in them losing out on thousands of pounds,” he said.

“But when caught up in a web of convincing and believable messages, it doesn’t take long to fall for the scam’s money-grabbing ending.

“Sadly, victims often feel ashamed or even stupid for falling for such scams but they are usually only obvious afterwards or to others looking in.”

He added: “The best course of action is to reduce the trust we have in any service the moment money is requested and further checks must be taken.”

When anyone asks for money, especially if an initial request comes from a new number, you should ask for further verification, Moore told The Sun.

This could be a video or voice call or if this is not possible, ensure you only transfer money to a previously set-up, verified payee.

Paul Bischoff, security and privacy advocate at Comparitech, said WhatsApp scams targeting older family members are on the rise.

“‘Grandparent scams’” like these have been quite common for a few years now, but they’ve mostly been limited to actual phone calls,” he said.

“Now, as older generations are adopting chat apps like WhatsApp, the scam is following them onto the new medium.

“Even if you only share your phone number with your close family, those family members might have apps that request permission to view everyone in their phone’s contact list.

“In many cases, the apps can then share that information, including phone numbers, with third parties. For this reason you should never assume your phone number is private.”

WhatsApp this week launched the “STOP. THINK. CALL” campaign to help educate the British public on how to protect themselves and their WhatsApp from message-based scams.

In other news, Google Chrome users are being warned to delete the browser amid fears highly sensitive data is being harvested.

Facebook has announced that it’s changing its name to “Meta”.

The company is working to create lifelike avatars of its users that they can control in a virtual world called the “metaverse”.

And, Apple’s system that exposes creepy iPhone apps that track your location or snoop on your browsing history has finally arrived.

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