The police warn WhatsApp users of a new scam. Cyber criminals are reviving the grandchildren trick in Messenger nationwide.
WhatsApp is a kind of grandchildren’s trick 2.0. (Source: ibphoto /depositphotos.com)
- Cyber criminals use WhatsApp to try to get older users to get their money.
- The scam is reminiscent of the grandchildren’s trick on the phone.
- Several such cases have already become known in Germany.
Con artists have apparently discovered WhatsApp for themselves. After cybercriminals recently managed to take over numerous accounts with just one message, more and more police stations are now warning of a kind of “grandchildren’s trick 2.0” in Messenger.
In the “grandchildren” trick, criminals pretend to be relatives of older people on the phone who have gotten into an emergency situation. The aim is to relieve the victim of cash or valuables.
This is what happened in Anklam (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). There, cyber criminals posed as their daughter to a married couple via WhatsApp. The message started with “Hello Mom, I have a new phone number”. The alleged daughter then stated that she urgently needed money for a new cell phone and a bill that had to be paid promptly. The old cell phone fell down and was run over by a car. The perpetrators acted very professionally and responded appropriately to inquiries from the initially suspicious couple.
The couple finally fell for the trick, but only transferred part of the 2,000 euros required. During a phone call with the real daughter, the dizziness was exposed.
Other cases known in Germany
Something similar happened in February 2021 in the area of responsibility of the Schifferstadt police station. According to the police, a 63-year-old woman received a WhatsApp message from a person unknown to her who posed as her son and would need money because of a damaged cell phone.
The woman did not fall for the trick, but immediately contacted her children by phone, who exposed the message as a fraud.
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The story is not an isolated incident! In February 2021, the Itzehoe police department also warned of this scam. In the area of responsibility of the authority, a crook pretended to be the son of the injured party in a WhatsApp message. With a story about an invented emergency situation, he managed to alleviate this by 1,200 euros.
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