How does the scam work?Īfter contacting someone with a ‘Hi mum’ or ‘Hi dad’ message which appears to be from their child, the fraudster will then try to persuade the recipient that their account has been compromised and they need to transfer cash to a friend or family member to keep their money ‘safe’. With the money going through multiple accounts, it could also make it harder for banks to trace the cash.

Of course, this is simply another smokescreen designed to confuse people.įraudsters may try to do this to give the appearance that the initial bank transfer is a relatively low risk ‘friends and family’ payment. He posted the entirety of the interaction on Twitter, showing how the scammers were trying to get him to pay $4,700 AUS (£2,691) by pretending to be his son.Īccording to Mr Ainsley, newer cases of the scam may try to add a twist to it – by requesting the money is sent to a friend or family member rather than directly to the scammer. Meanwhile, Australian scientist Alan Baxter also caught on to the scam. Her son happened to be travelling in Mexico at the time, giving the fraudsters the perfect hook to make her believe he was in a tight spot. Sharing her mum’s experience on Twitter, Ms Oatley said the scam was ‘incredibly believable’ and that she ‘nearly’ fell for it.Īnother mum, Angela Briscoe, said she wired a total of almost £10,000 over several transactions and has only been able to recover £5,000 of it through her bank. The scammer will pose as the victim’s child (Credit: month, the mother of BBC football commentator Jacqui Oatley was targeted by the scam.

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