Urgent warning to parents on WhatsApp over worrying message that tricks users into handing over cash

The Sun

06-05-2025

Olivia Stringer, Fabulous Digital Writer
Published: Invalid Date,
PARENTS are being urged to stay vigilant as a Whatsapp scam targeting mum's and dad's is becoming increasingly prevalent.
Scammers pretend to be the victim's children, beginning their messages with 'hi mum', or 'hi dad'.
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They then claim to have lost their phone and be locked out of their bank account, praying on the parents' concern for their children's safety.
Eventually, the fraudsters beg the mum or dad for rent money, with parents often forking out as they genuinely believe the texts are from their children.
These messages often arrive via WhatsApp or text message, with scammers also sometimes pretending to be close friends or parents.
According to Action Fraud, these types of scam messages led to a financial loss of £226,744 in the UK between 2023 and 2025.
Scammers were most successful when pretending to be sons, followed by daughters and then mothers, according to data collected by Santander.
Chris Ainsley, Santander's head of fraud risk management has warned that the the scam is now becoming more believable thanks to the use of AI.
He told The Independent: "We're hearing of instances where AI voice impersonation technology is being used to create WhatsApp and SMS voice notes, making the scam seem ever more realistic.
"If you're ever asked for money out of the blue on any social or communication platform, verify the request by picking up the phone."
These scams, known as 'smishing' (a combination of SMS and phishing) begin with a friendly message, pretending to be someone close to the recipient.
If the messages are ignored, the senders often send repeated messages, using generic details to try and strike up a conversation, and make the recipients believe they are talking to family members.
The scammer will then claim that they urgently need money as they don't have access to their bank account, and will ask for money to be transferred to an unrecognised account.
For anyone worried that they are being targeted by this scam, experts recommend contacting your loved one via their real number, and waiting a while to see if they respond.
You could also ask a question that only your loved one would know the answer to, or set up a code word in advance to ask the sender for if you worry they are not who they say they are.
If you have already sent the cash over before releasing you are the victim of a scam, you should call the bank straight away to stop the payment.
What is phishing?
HERE's what you need to know:
Phishing is a type of online fraud
It's typically an attempt to nab some of your data
Phishing generally involves scammers posing as a trustworthy entity
For instance, fraudsters could send you an email claiming to be your bank, asking for details
Scammers can also set up fake websites that look like real ones, simply to hoodwink you
Phishing can take place over email, social media, texts, phone calls and more
The best defence against phishing is to be generally sceptical of weblinks and emails, especially if they were unsolicited
This comes after WhatsApp closed down on three mobile devices, with affected users blocked from sending or receiving messages.
From Monday, only users with iPhones capable of supporting iOS version 15.1 and newer are able to use the messaging app.
The models affected by the switch off are iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
All of these models were released over 10 years ago, so if you have purchased a phone in the last decade, you should be unaffected.
Explaining the reason for the shutdown, WhatsApp said: "Devices and software change often, so we regularly review what operating systems we support and make updates.
"Every year we look at which devices and software are the oldest and have the fewest users.
"These devices also might not have the latest security updates, or might lack the functionality required to run WhatsApp.
"Before we stop supporting your operating system, you'll be notified in WhatsApp and reminded a few times to upgrade."