‘Hi Mum’: Riverina police warn residents of scam circulating the region
Riverina police are warning residents not to be fooled by a “diabolical” scam targeting parents which has been the doing the rounds in the region. Find out more.
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Riverina police are warning residents not to be fooled by a “diabolical” scam targeting parents which has been the doing the rounds in the region.
The ‘Hi Mum’ scam is where parents are contacted via a messenger app such as WhatsApp by a person claiming to be their child with a new phone number - and asking for money.
Police are warning people not to provide banking details or pay bills and to not provide personal information, such as a picture of their credit card.
Riverina Police District Inspector Jillian Gibson said this latest scam could have serious financial consequences for unsuspecting victims.
“It is a simple scam where they target your mobile number and it’s really a diabolic scam because people do not realise they could be on the phone to a scammer, not their friend or close relative,” Ms Gibson said.
The Hi Mum or Dad scam is one example of spoofing, which the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) states is the practice of disguising a scam communication (email, website or phone number) to appear as though it came from a trusted source.
Usually, scammers purport to be government agencies, banks or utility companies.
Inspector Gibson said the Hi Mum scam had impacted people in the region, and across Australia, some of whom had lost their life savings.
“We have heard of people who sadly have been sucked in by this scam and have had their life savings taken away,” she said.
The Riverina police are working with international authorities to prevent such scams.
“We know they’re international fraudsters so we work with a range of international police authorities to stop them and also block their channels of communication with the unsuspecting public,” she said.
Inspector Gibson said the best way for people to avoid phone scams was to make sure they “think twice” before sending information or answering a phone call from a strange number.
“The best way to check the call is by skipping it and if they leave a message then you know it is the real person not the scam; also hang up immediately if it is not the real thing,” she said.
The ACCC’s latest Targeting Scams report revealed that Australians lost a record amount of more than $2 billion to scams in 2021, despite government, law enforcement, and the private sector disrupting more scam activity than ever before.
Based on reports to Scamwatch in 2021, women reported the most scams but men lost more money than women, and men’s losses to investment scams were double women’s losses.
People aged 65 and over reported the highest losses, and reported losses steadily increased with age.
“Scam activity continues to increase, and last year a record number of Australians lost a record amount of money,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
“Scammers are the most opportunistic of all criminals: they pose as charities after a natural disaster, health departments during a pandemic, and love interests every day.
“The true cost of scams is more than a dollar figure as they also cause serious emotional harm to individuals, families, and businesses.”
For more information on scams or to report a potential scam, visit www.scamwatch.gov.au.
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