A new scam 'Hi Mum' targeting WhatsApp users for money
By MYBRANDBOOK
In a recent scam fraudsters are targeting victims on WhatsApp text. This scam is called 'Hi Mum' or "family impersonation". Imposing close friends or family members, they contact the family members and tell them that they need help as they have lost or damaged their phone, and are trying to contact them with a different number. Once the victims fall prey to their texts, they ask them to send money. According to a report, Many Australians have fallen victim to this new scam and have lost over $7 million (around Rs 57.84 crore).
According to reports, the scammer will contact victims on WhatsApp and will claim they have lost or damaged their phone and are making contact with a new number. Once they develop trust with the victim they ask for personal information such as photos for their social media profile or money to help urgently pay a bill to someone or to replace the phone.
They will further justify the need for funds by saying that they can't access via their cards as the online banking is temporarily closed or showing errors.
The report further cites that the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) has noted a significant rise in 'Hi Mum' scams and more than 1,150 people fell victim to the scam. Reportedly, people lost around $2.6 million, around Rs 21 crore, in the past few months. In 2022 alone, $7.2m (Rs 57.84 crore) was stolen from at least 11,100 victims. And most cases of scams are reported by women who are above the age of 55.
The Australian authorities have urged citizens to verify the source of contact before transferring money via suspicious messages.
While this case was reported in Australia, it should be taken as a call, a warning by Indians too. India is also reporting a significant increase in cyber fraud in the last few years. Recently, a businessman from Delhi was tricked and around Rs 50 Lakh was cleaned from his several bank accounts. Many cases of SIM swapping, QR code scams, and phishing links have been going viral. So the only way to be safe from these cyber frauds is to take precautions and be aware.
BREAKING NEWS
TECHNO TRENDS
Singapore to remove One-Time Passwords from Bank Accounts
According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, clients who utilise secur...
Is 375 million Airtel subscribers database breached?
When a hacker claims to have accessed and put up for sale a customer databa...
The government of India intends to construct a single portal f
A single portal will be launched by the Indian government to list all of it...
OpenAI offers GPT-4o, a faster model available to all users at
GPT-4o, a faster and more sophisticated AI model, is made available to all...
E-Magazine
TECHNOTAINMENT
Airtel Xstream Play strengthens regional content library, part
Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), one of India’s leading telecommunications
ED attaches Raj Kundra, Shilpa Shetty’s Rs 97 crore worth as
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized businessman Raj Kundra's pro
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Clover Infotech appointed Subham Banerjee as CDO
Clover Infotech has announced the appointment of Subham Banerjee as its Ch
Saviynt ropes in Sanjeevi Kumar as new Sales Director in India
The cloud-native identity and governance platform solutions provider Saviy
OPEN YOUR EYES
INTERVIEWS
HPE Aruba Networking bridging the physical and digital worlds
The information technology industry is a critical component of the 21st cen
Autodesk investing in emerging Design & Make technologies to d
Autodesk partners with leading companies in a variety of industries, includ
HOT PICK
COLORFUL rolls out an array of gaming laptops
COLORFUL launched its incredible series of COLORFUL EVOL P15 gaming laptop
Dell Technologies launches new AI-powered commercial PC portfo
Dell Technologies has launched the broadest portfolio of commercial AI lap
MAKE IN INDIA BRANDS
BHARAT ELECTRONICS LTD.
MICROTEK INTERNATIONAL PVT. LTD.
LENOVO INDIA PVT. LTD.
FRESHWORKS TECHNOLOGIES PVT. LTD.
EMINENT CIO'S OF INDIA
ICONS OF INDIA
Icons Of India : B.V.R. Subrahmanyam
A 1987 batch (Chhattisgarh cadre) Indian Administrative Service Office...
ICONS OF INDIA : SACHIN BANSAL
Sachin Bansal is an Indian entrepreneur. He is best known as the found...
Icons Of India : Harsh Jain
Harsh Jain, the co-founder of Dream 11, the largest fantasy sports web...
PARTNER SPEAKERS
PSU
RailTel Corporation of India Limited
RailTel is a leading telecommunications infrastructure provider in Ind...
BSE - Bombay Stock Exchange
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is one of India’s largest and oldest...
NPCI - National Payments Corporation of India
NPCI is an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and set...
VIDEOS
Top 25 Brands
Value-Added Distribution
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Satya Nadella, Chairman & CEO- Microsoft
Satya Nadella, the Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, recently emphasized ...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - NEAL MOHAN, CEO - Youtube
Neal Mohan, the CEO of YouTube, has a bold vision for the platform’s...
Indian Tech Talent Excelling The Tech World - Anirudh Devgan , President, Cadence Design
Anirudh Devgan, the Global President and CEO of Cadence Design Systems...
STARNITE AWARDS 2024
ITFORUM 2024
CMO of the Year
WOMEN LEADERSHIP
EMINENT CIO's OF INDIA
TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY
MORE VIDEOS
ADVERTISEMENTS
TECHNOLOGY DISRUPTION
UNICORNS REVOLUTIONISING
