The fraud investigation department of the criminal investigation department of the state of Lower Austria warned again on Wednesday about a wave of fraudulent reports. Since the beginning of the year, there have been at least 10 cases of daughter/son WhatsApp messages in the state, state police said. The damage caused was estimated at more than 70,000 euros.
WhatsApp or SMS would be sent to (potential) victims via an unknown number, with the scammers posing as the recipient’s child and saying they had a new number. The old mobile phone has been lost or has become unusable due to water damage. However, since the banking app does not yet work on the new device and an urgent payment must be made, “temporary help” is requested. The victims must transfer a four-digit amount to a specific recipient and the money will be refunded as soon as possible.
The latter is of course not the case. According to the police, amounts from 650 to 17,017 euros have been transferred in the ten cases in several Lower Austrian districts that have become known since January 2.
How to respond correctly
“If you receive SMS or WhatsApp from family members with money demands and new telephone numbers, contact them via the old telephone numbers and ask if that is correct,” the prevention tips say. “Don’t start foreign transfers to accounts you don’t recognize without talking to family members first. Then block the ‘new’ phone number. Report it to the police,” she advises.
Source: Krone
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