General News
1 August, 2022
Residents lose money to WhatsApp scammers
Local police are urging residents to be wary of a new scam on messaging platform WhatsApp, with a number of residents already losing money to scammers. Referred to as the ‘hey mum’ scam, scammers are contacting individuals pretending to be their...
Local police are urging residents to be wary of a new scam on messaging platform WhatsApp, with a number of residents already losing money to scammers.
Referred to as the ‘hey mum’ scam, scammers are contacting individuals pretending to be their son or daughter, stating they have been locked out of their bank account or have lost their card, requesting the victim transfers them money.
Central Goldfields Crime Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Sam Fary said local police have received several reports of the scam locally and urged residents to be wary.
“We’ve had a couple of recent reports in our area around this,” he said.
“The victims are being contacted on WhatsApp by someone alleging to be their son or daughter and tricking the victim into giving them money by claiming they’ve been locked out of their credit card and they need money.
“The scammers have been quite convincing in their messages and are very persistent to the point where they have been able to unfortunately get money from the victims.”
The scam has been reported across Australia and internationally as well, with individuals losing thousands of dollars.
Det Sen Con Fary said that if residents do receive a message on WhatsApp from someone claiming to be a relative, to confirm this with the relative directly.
“If you’re getting contacted on WhatsApp by someone saying they’re a family member and they’re requesting money, my advice would be to stop that communication and actually call your son or daughter on their mobile number and speak to them to confirm whether it’s legitimate,” he said.
“If you are contacted by someone on WhatsApp I recommend you block the number and report it to local police, Crime Stoppers or go to the Report Cyber website.”
The Maryborough Police Station can be contacted on 5460-3300, Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 and scams can also be reported online to Report Cyber at www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/report.