This new SMS from scammers who want to rob parents

A new scam is prevalent. Thousands of French men and women have been the target of a new fake SMS scam in recent weeks. Officials named him “Cheating on the kid who has phone problems” : It involves convincing parents that one of their children no longer has access to their allegedly broken, stolen or lost phone.

After writing “Hi Dad” Or “hi mom”l’“child” Then asks the recipient to contact them on the new number. Sometimes he directly sends a link redirecting to a new discussion on the WhatsApp messaging app, which is known to be encrypted and therefore more difficult to trace by authorities.

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When the victim is hooked, the scammer starts discussing the message. Typically, aigriffins on the other end of the line avoid voice discussions by claiming microphone problems or cellular network unavailability. Rarely, some go beyond this pretense and answer the calls of their targets, imitating a child’s voice.

The fact is that after a few minutes they demand money for different reasons: to buy a new phone, debt, blocked bank account… Thus they enter their target’s credit card number or payment coupon code (PCS, Transcash, Neosurf), in the online scam sector. is very common. “Don’t answer”, “Never send money before formally knowing your interlocutor” And “Call your child directly on their telephone number to confirm the message they received”The authorities recommend the site cybermalveillance.gouv.fr in the face of this scam.

The scandal initially caused an uproar in Australia. By the end of 2022, 11,000 residents of the country had lost a total of $7.2 million to the scam, according to police. But this type of fraud typically affects the West as a whole, including France, in line with older frauds, such as love scams via social networks or fake emails purporting to usurp state power.

Produced from abroad

Usually developed from abroad – in the case of grazers in West Africa, these serial cybercriminals are set up in public cyber cafes or in Eastern Europe by branches of groups specializing in various trafficking – these scams require in-depth knowledge of the target’s habits and customs. Countries we call “Social Engineering”Or the art of psychologically manipulating interlocutors by exploiting one’s cultural contexts, as explained to us in the previous survey. Figaro Pierre Penalba, a police officer specializing in cybercrime and co-author, with his wife Abigail Penalba, Darknet, scary journey (Albin Mitchell, 2022).

They also need a solid background in IT. In order to target you, crooks have to hack e-commerce sites, telephone operators, applications, etc. to obtain personal databases available on the black market. It includes the telephone number, email, name and gender of potential victims. This last criterion is essential for scammers, as it will allow them to decide between uses “Hi Dad” Or “hi mom” In fraudulent SMS messages... From there, criminals invest in tools to send mass SMS and emails, which are legitimate and used by traditional companies. This makes it possible to automate the sending of thousands of messages in record time, hence the number of French people who have already received this SMS.

If you are a victim of this scam “The kid who has a problem with their phone”, Authorities advise you to immediately object to the bank transfer with your bank, file a complaint and keep evidence. “For advice in your endeavours, consult the Ministry’s Info Escrowries platform
Internal on 0 805 805 817 (free call and service)Mention the authorities of cybermalveillance.gouv.fr.