LevellerLive

Another phishing scam has been seen in and around Somerset. This has been around before in 2021 but appears to be having something of a resurgence.

The contact is usually from a mobile number to add credibility and it will usually start along the lines of: “Hi Dad (or Mum), just a quick one from my ipad to let you know I’ve had a recent number change…..” You’ll then be invited to text a new number. What usually happens from there on in is some kind of request for help, which translates as send money. The easiest way to combat the scam is to ask questions.

You can be creative here. For instance if you only have daughters – you can text back and ask which son it is who is texting. If the reply says your eldest, you’ll know it isn’t one of your children!

A variation on the scam is also doing the rounds. This has a similar message but then invites you to click on a so called “Whatsapp link. As ever with this sort of scam the idea behind it is to get you to press the link. This is never a good idea! It will send a virus to your device which can download sensitive information and com[promise your device.

Victims of either scam can end up out of pocket to the tune of thousands of pounds. You have been warned. The best way to treat text messages like this is to delete them immediately. If you want to make doubly sure it is not genuinely your offspring in need of help – ask questions. Preferably ones only they or you would know the answer to. If you are alert, it is not hard to trip up this sort of fraudster.