Yet another new (to us) scam.

[Dave7]

A close call this.
MrsD got a text "from" our son claiming he had dropped his phone and broken it......therefor has no access to online banking etc. He urgently needs to pay a £2K bill...... will MrsD please pay it and he will pay her back next week.
It was very plausible and the conversation went on for 2 days before the request... at which point she showed it to me.
I had read of this scam so it was deleted and binned......end of.
I can imagine many people being caught out by this one

 

[ClichéGuevara]

A close call this.
MrsD got a text "from" our son claiming he had dropped his phone and broken it......therefor has no access to online banking etc. He urgently needs to pay a £2K bill...... will MrsD please pay it and he will pay her back next week.
It was very plausible and the conversation went on for 2 days before the request... at which point she showed it to me.
I had read of this scam so it was deleted and binned......end of.
I can imagine many people being caught out by this one

One quick check in such situations would be to give 'the son' a quick phone call to the number they're texting from, or ask them to call you from someone elses phone or a landline.

 

[biggs682]

Sounds like he was being held hostage

 

[steveindenmark]

Sounds like he was being held hostage

I wouldnt pay then either. 2 Grand dont make me laugh. He is not worth that much.

 

[cougie uk]

Sounds like he was being held hostage

A close call this.
MrsD got a text "from" our son claiming he had dropped his phone and broken it......therefor has no access to online banking etc. He urgently needs to pay a £2K bill...... will MrsD please pay it and he will pay her back next week.
It was very plausible and the conversation went on for 2 days before the request... at which point she showed it to me.
I had read of this scam so it was deleted and binned......end of.
I can imagine many people being caught out by this one

So your wife believed this for two days ? I bet lots of people pay up. If only 1% does it's worth the effort.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

A fairly common one on WhatsApp apparently - a lot of people have lot a lot due to it

 

[Dave7]

So your wife believed this for two days ? I bet lots of people pay up. If only 1% does it's worth the effort.

Can't say she really believed it although, at first it was very plausible**... too many alarm bells though.
**they have obviously hacked his info as they mentioned several true facts.

 

[bruce1530]

It's a reasonably common scam, both at a personal level and business. I recall someone getting a txt from "their boss" saying that he was currently in Istanbul on a business trip, that he had been mugged and phone/passport/money stolen, and that the kind hotel owner had allowed him to send a txt; could they transfer £££ to the hotelier's paypal account and the hotelier would give him cash.

And the message had lots of personal info to verify identity, and the boss was indeed in Istanbul on a business trip at the time. The perils of putting your life on Facebook...

 

[cougie uk]

It's a reasonably common scam, both at a personal level and business. I recall someone getting a txt from "their boss" saying that he was currently in Istanbul on a business trip, that he had been mugged and phone/passport/money stolen, and that the kind hotel owner had allowed him to send a txt; could they transfer £££ to the hotelier's paypal account and the hotelier would give him cash.

And the message had lots of personal info to verify identity, and the boss was indeed in Istanbul on a business trip at the time. The perils of putting your life on Facebook...

Or even on forums like this.
I know plenty of people leave a lot of clues on them - it's often not hard to identify a person or an address.

 

[Smokin Joe]

One quick check in such situations would be to give 'the son' a quick phone call to the number they're texting from, or ask them to call you from someone elses phone or a landline.

This.

I cannot believe anyone would send someone money without doing that first. How many more warnings do people need about electronic messages concerning any finance related issue before they stop falling for this sort of obvious scam?

And then they start whining that the bank won't cover their loss.

 

[ColinJ]

Many people are very gullible!

My ex 'won' the Spanish National Lottery without even buying a ticket! I was particularly impressed by the photograph of the previous winner receiving their cheque, standing in front of a UK National Lottery poster ...

Curiously, I also won the Spanish lottery the same day, also without ever buying a ticket!

I would have claimed my prize but I was too skint to afford the 'processing fee' ...

Anyway, back to scams... A friend of mine got scammed by someone who phoned up claiming to be from Microsoft. Under his instruction she enabled 'remote assistance' a.k.a. 'let me take over your computer, lock you out of it, and demand a ransom'! Only at that point did she suspect that something was wrong, but by then it was too late. She had to pay a computer shop £50 to reinstall Windows for her. She isn't stupid, just way too trusting!

 

[Once a Wheeler]

I reply to this kind of thing with the equivalent of: 'Sorry to hear that, son, please text me the frame number of your gravel bike to verify your identity and we can proceed from there.'
Usually, end of story (and, of course, one's son does not have a gravel bike).

 

[Gwylan]

Nearly fell for the DVLA. your road tax is unpaid. On the point of pushing the link when I realised it didn't say which car. Also I am not the registered keeper. I just deal with it.

We have a phone line for data. Only scammers ever call it. If I'm really bored I answer and wind them up. Speak slowly and get the wrong end of the stick. Use the " have I got the job?". "They said they'd rind a out now to tell me" Your imagination is the only limit to this one.
Pretend you know them " Hello, Steve. How are you doing? Has the cast come off yet? Are you going bowling, fishing, dogging today, tonight or whatever.
Is Debbie there, can I have a word with her?

 

[MontyVeda]

I really have lost my phone and need £2K... so if any of you kind souls could PM the cash to me, I'd be really grateful

 

[oldwheels]

Nearly fell for the DVLA. your road tax is unpaid. On the point of pushing the link when I realised it didn't say which car. Also I am not the registered keeper. I just deal with it.

We have a phone line for data. Only scammers ever call it. If I'm really bored I answer and wind them up. Speak slowly and get the wrong end of the stick. Use the " have I got the job?". "They said they'd rind a out now to tell me" Your imagination is the only limit to this one.
Pretend you know them " Hello, Steve. How are you doing? Has the cast come off yet? Are you going bowling, fishing, dogging today, tonight or whatever.
Is Debbie there, can I have a word with her?

I got the same one but I always keep a receipt which I get from the PO when I pay so easy to confirm it is a scam.

It's a reasonably common scam, both at a personal level and business. I recall someone getting a txt from "their boss" saying that he was currently in Istanbul on a business trip, that he had been mugged and phone/passport/money stolen, and that the kind hotel owner had allowed him to send a txt; could they transfer £££ to the hotelier's paypal account and the hotelier would give him cash.

And the message had lots of personal info to verify identity, and the boss was indeed in Istanbul on a business trip at the time. The perils of putting your life on Facebook...

Strange I had something similar for my brother allegedly in Turkey on business. He did travel widely on business but knowing him to be more tech savvy than me it was not likely and easy to check anyway.