‘Dad I lost my phone’: the scam via text message and Whatsapp

Beware of these text messages from alleged children inviting them to call you back on a new number: it's the new scam going around

ROME – ‘Dad I lost my phone. This is a temporary number, you can save it and write to me on Whatsapp! A thousand thanks’. Beware of these text messages from alleged children inviting them to call you back on a new number: it’s the new scam that has been going around for some time.

THE SCAM

A message arrives on the cell phone inviting the alleged father to send a message to the new number. What happens next?The scammers claim they need moneyto repair their phone or deal with a sudden emergency and proceed to ask for their bank account credentials. p>

WHAT TO DO IF THE MESSAGE ARRIVES

The first thing to do is not to call suspicious numbers, not to click on links that we are not perfectly aware of and ignore the message. If you are a father, if in doubt, first make a verification call to your child’s number. Last thing: never send sensitive data on chats.

THE TESTIMONIALS

“It’s already happened to me a couple of times. Obviously I blocked everything”, writes a user on social media. And also: “It also arrived for me, I immediately called my children who assured me that it wasn’t them“, “A family friend received this message not long ago. Yes she turned and asked her son: what would happen to your phone???, instead, a phone call came from a pseudo-son while, again, the real son was nearby , but you really have to be careful!”.