Fraudsters are capitalising on the UK heatwave with a new mobile phone scam, experts have warned.
Fraud investigators say criminals are sending out texts or WhatsApp messages that reads: “Hi mum” or “Hi dad” then words such as “I’m so hot and stressed mum, text me on this [new number]”.
It’s a variation on a common scam in which texts say “Hi mum” or “Hi dad” and messages such as, “I’ve lost my phone so using a friend’s phone”.
The texts often claim there is an emergency.
Pretending to be a person’s son or daughter, the fraudsters will then ask for a loan or gift of money in their next text, giving bank details of the pretend friend.
Experts at the UK’s Report Fraud service, which helps police try to trace cybercriminals, advise parents to avoid interacting with the scammers, who are using the heatwave to play on people’s sympathy.
They advise people not to reply but to contact their loved one on their usual number.
They also advise forwarding suspicious texts to 7726.
Worldwide, victims have been conned out of thousands of pounds each in the “Hi mum” scam. UK banks say victims usually lose up to £3,000.
But some parents have been manipulated into sending as much as £47,000 over several instalments, the BBC has reported.
Action Fraud says such texts led to a total financial loss of £226,744 between 2023 and 2025 across the UK, according to a Freedom of Information request.
Last year, Santander warned the scam was evolving at “breakneck speed”.
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