- Fraudsters are exploiting the UK heatwave with a new mobile phone scam, sending messages to parents impersonating their children and claiming to be suffering from heat stress.
- The scam typically involves a text or WhatsApp message starting with 'Hi mum' or 'Hi dad' from an unknown number, asking the parent to text back on a 'new number' due to an emergency.
- Once contact is established, the criminals request a loan or gift of money, providing bank details for a supposed friend, a tactic that is a variation of an existing 'Hi mum' scam.
- Victims in the UK have reportedly lost significant sums, with individual losses often around £3,000, though some parents have been manipulated into sending as much as £47,000 in multiple instalments.
- Experts advise parents not to reply to suspicious messages but instead to contact their child on their usual number and forward any scam texts to the 7726 service to help trace cybercriminals.
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