Scams to know
The "Hi Mum" scam: texts from a "new number"
"Hi Mum, I dropped my phone in the toilet 🙈 this is my new number, save it." A few messages later there's a bill that has to be paid today - and the old phone's banking app "isn't working".
How it works
- A message arrives - SMS or WhatsApp - from an unknown number, written like your son or daughter (or a grandchild, or a friend).
- They've "lost" or "broken" their phone, so this is the new number. They're chatty and believable.
- Then: an urgent bill, rent or a purchase, and they can't log in to their bank on the new phone. Could you pay it, just this once? Here are the account details.
- The money goes to a scammer's account and is moved on within minutes.
How to check - in one step
Call your child on their old, real number. If it's "broken", call someone who's with them, or ask a question only they'd know. Never send money to a new account because of a message.
The family code word
Agree on a word or phrase with your family that anyone asking for money in an emergency has to say. Scammers can copy a writing style; they can't guess the word.
Red flags
- "New number", "lost my phone", "can't talk right now, only text";
- a payment to an account in someone else's name ("it's my friend's account");
- pressure to pay today, and to not tell anyone.
If you've paid
Call your bank immediately - fast action gives the best chance of stopping the transfer - then report it to Scamwatch. What to do next.
And report the number on BadCall - scammers send the same message to thousands of parents from the same number.