‘I need your help’: the scourge of ‘mum and dad’ scams

When Sally Richardson received a WhatsApp message in June claiming to be from her son begging for help to pay urgent debts, she was initially hesitant.

“Can you talk on the phone?” she asked. “My phone is broken and the microphone doesn’t work. I’ve gotten myself in a situation and need your help,” was the reply.

She asked more questions and was convinced the answers sounded like her son – but Ms Richardson, whose name has been changed, was not speaking with her child. She was about to fall victim to the “mum and dad” scam sweeping the country.

The scammer told Ms Richardson his bank account had been blocked and he would repay the loan the next day. In a desperate bid to help, she transferred £1,500 from her Nationwide account and £ 5,115 from her Lloyds account to the bank details provided by the criminal. By the time she realised she had been scammed, it was too late.

More than £1.5m was lost to this type of scam between February and June this year, with more than 1,235 reports made to Action Fraud, the UK’s anti- fraud agency. Victims receive a text or WhatsApp message from an unfamiliar number, purporting to be a son or daughter who has lost their phone. Once parents are convinced they are speaking to their child, scammers ask them to send money to pay debts or bills.

Criminals may have personal information from a previous data leak so could know basic details about names or date of birth.

Amber Burridge, of fraud prevention body Cifas, warned that the criminals were experts at establishing a rapport with victims. Some banks and building societies have signed a voluntary code to improve reimbursement for scam victims, but the terms are open to interpretation. The different definitions operated by banks meant Nationwide reimbursed Ms Richardson £1,500, the full amount lost from her account, while Lloyds returned £ 1,246 – leaving more than £3,800 outstanding. A Lloyds Bank spokesman said: “We deeply sympathise with our customer as a victim of a crime.

“We fully investigate each individual case, and unfortunately on this occasion, the customer did not take any steps to verify the message was genuine and the payments made were not unusual for the business account she used.”