A mum has shared how she felt "violated" by a sophisticated scam targeting mothers across Wales.
Patricia Land is one of many parents to have been targeted by fraudsters posing as one of her children and wants to speak out to prevent it from happening to others.
Patricia was at her home in Bridgend in January when she received a WhatsApp message from a new number claiming to be her son Mark.
Read more: Find all the latest news in Bridgend here
“It was so clever, so so clever,” she explained. “He text saying: ‘Hi Mum, my phone has fallen, it’s completely broken, I’ve had to get a new one, can you save this new number’ then some kisses.”
The plausibility of dropping and breaking a phone paired with the friendly tone meant no alarm bells rung. Patricia chatted with her ‘son’, checking whether he had managed to recover his pictures and data as well as updating her husband with the new number.
It wasn’t until after those messages that the fraudster mentioned that due to having a new device they were unable to log into their online banking while it was being verified and he needed to pay his rent.
This all made perfect sense to Patricia as her son is a working professional and rents a home in Cardiff and she believed he was setting up a new device.
“He never asks me for money but with the phone it was so plausible that it just didn’t occur to me that anything was off so I said yes.”
Her ‘son’ sent over what she understood to be the bank details of his landlord and she transferred a sum of £2,200 to the account.
“It did come up when I was doing it that it couldn’t be validated so I went back and said: 'Is this right? Because the bank isn’t recognising it' and he of course said it was fine so I went ahead.”
Patricia now recalls the event with great upset as she acknowledges how they used her position as a mother against her.
Later on the scammer asked for a further £1,900 which she questioned but again rationalised to herself with the loss of his phone.
She transferred a further £1,900 but thankfully this time she sent it to her son's bank account which was already saved in her app.
At no point did Patricia question the validity of the identity of the texter. If anything the large amounts of money made only made her concerned about her son’s financial welfare.
She recalled: “I was thinking to myself: 'Mark wanting £4,000 is an awful lot to ask for for just a 48-hour loan.'
“I started panicking, worrying something was going on that I didn’t know about, that he was in trouble in a different way and he’s not saying anything.”
It wasn’t until the following day when chatting with her daughter that Patricia mentioned to her daughter that Mark’s phone number had changed.
Thinking it was odd she hadn’t received a text herself she reached out to her brother who confirmed the ordeal was a scam.
“It was a horrible, horrible feeling – still is," said Patricia.
“You hear about scams, a long-lost relative who wants you to follow a link, but this was personal.
“It’s not like I’ve bought some goods and they haven’t arrived – this just feels so personal and it makes you feel violated.”
Mark transferred the £1,900 back straight away but the £2,200 had gone to a separate bank account.
Patricia has reported the scam to Action Fraud and her bank but is unsure whether she will see the money returned. She explained how she felt alone in her situation up until she read an article where another parent had been targeted.
“I realised it wasn’t just me – you know it happens to people but you feel so stupid and foolish even though you’re not stupid.
“When I read the article it just all came back and I thought maybe I’ve got a duty to share my experience.”
Patricia hopes that by sharing her experience that she can prevent something similar from happening to someone else wherever they are.
WhatsApp policy manager Kathryn Harnett 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. 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. And if you receive a suspicious message (even if you think you know who it’s from), calling or requesting a voice note is the fastest and simplest way to check someone is who they say they are. A friend in need is a friend worth calling.”
Citizens Advice Scams Action has reported an increase in messaging scams over the past year including fraudsters posing as sons, daughters, and friends of message recipients.
If you need to report a fraud or cybercrime contact Action Fraud here.
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