Scammers pretend to be a son or daughter - this is how the grandchild trick works via WhatsApp

Created: 03/11/2022 05:38

By: Marcus Giebel

Criminal gangs abuse WhatsApp to exploit the trust of older people, as in the well-known grandchild trick.

The time pressure is in the foreground.

Munich – The grandchild trick has become notorious, but apparently still brings in plenty of loot for criminal gangs.

However, the next generation of scams has long since been used, the mother trick, so to speak.

The selected victims are no longer contacted on the landline phone and asked for a money transfer, but written to on WhatsApp.

A Reddit user revealed the relevant chat history, captioning his message: "Attempted scam on my mom.

Warn your parents!” At the beginning, the contacted WhatsApp user is suggested that one of the children would contact him – but with a new cell phone number because the other smartphone no longer works.

Fraud via WhatsApp: Supposed son asks mother for a transfer because of a cell phone problem

Among other things, the scammers write: “I dropped my cell phone, the touchscreen no longer responds.

I'm using my old cell phone now, I'm hard to reach." In other messages, the rather clumsy German is noticeable.

Because when it comes to the really important thing - namely the money - the answer is literally: "I have to transfer two bills, but because the cell phone is broken I can't get to the data."

Since the supposed victim keeps asking questions, the scammers are noticeably angry.

Within three minutes these messages follow: "Are there any bills that I still have to pay", "Can you transfer it for me?" and finally "I'm not hearing anything".

Urging the contacted person to respond quickly to avoid long thought processes is also an important part of the grandchild trick.

The new grandchild trick: The scammers are now contacting their victims via WhatsApp.

© Screenshot Reddit

Grandchild trick also works via WhatsApp: "Absolute scum, but look at yourself"

In the comments, one user pointed out how cleverly scammers would get the name of the person they're impersonating: "'Guess 3 mom, who's the unluckiest one?'

Okay, the people are absolute scum, but that shows how smart they are.”

Other users write of similar experiences, but the father found out about the scammers because his child never writes him "Dad" or the son never uses smileys in the messages.

Some also use the dialect in WhatsApp messages as in a personal conversation - which the scammers cannot know.

Police warn of WhatsApp fraud: It's often about four-digit amounts

The police also warn that this scam is spreading more and more.

A few days ago, the Bad Segeberg police department reported several attempts of this kind, in one case a 62-year-old transferred almost 2400 euros to the supposed daughter, a couple was relieved of 4600 euros, a 58-year-old even 6800 euros.

A mother was lucky who wanted to transfer 2,600 and 3,000 euros because the bank was able to withhold at least the lower amount.

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At least two such attempts at fraud were recently uncovered in the Rhein-Erft district in North Rhine-Westphalia.

According to the sächsische.de portal

a total of 279 fraud attempts using this scam via messenger services were registered in Dresden alone from January to October 25, 2022.

According to the police headquarters in Upper Franconia, a woman in the Forchheim district lost around 4,000 euros when she thought she was helping her son out of trouble.

To be used with caution: This WhatsApp message is usually followed quickly by a request for an immediate money transfer.

© Zacharie Scheurer/picture alliance/dpa/dpa-tmn

Fraud on WhatsApp: Police advise distrust and queries

According to the police, the fraudsters are pushing for instant and real-time transfers, since in these cases no chargebacks are possible.

The communication also states that those who are called or written to should be suspicious if the other person does not respond by name but has them guessed.

Therefore, callers should always be asked to state their name.

Mistrust is also important when supposed relatives or acquaintances report who cannot be identified.

Here it makes sense to ask about things that only relatives or acquaintances can know.

Family or financial circumstances should never be betrayed.

Instead of being put under pressure, the police advise contacting the person in question on the previously known number and asking about the background.

As soon as the request for money or valuables comes up, the next steps should be discussed with family members or other close people.

If the caller behaves suspiciously, the police should be contacted immediately on 110.