Fraudsters lure their victims with WhatsApp messages or short messages to fake sites where they have to enter their data. Or they trick their victims into handing over valuables that are supposedly needed to keep grandchildren out of prison. There are many variants of WhatsApp-related scams.
But a variant is now new and the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office is warning about it. Particularly bold fraudsters contact their victims a second time and actually try to rip them off again. The police write:
With the new message, the perpetrators obviously want to give the impression that this notification comes from an official body/authority. In the message text, the perpetrators refer to actual previous criminal incidents that were also reported by the respective recipients of the message in the past. Real names and the correct amount of damage from the old procedure are also mentioned in the text.
Mentioning these details about the previous crime (usually fraud crimes such as the infamous grandchild trick, messenger fraud or goods fraud, e.g. fraud via a classified ad portal) is intended to make the new contact appear trustworthy. The following screenshot shows what such a Whatsapp message can look like:
New WhatsApp scam
Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office.
In order to reach their victims, the cyber gangsters use the victim's data that is still available from the first fraud. By the way, the fraudsters use formulations that German authorities do not use. For example the French salutation “Madame”.
This is what the scammers want to achieve
But what do the crooks actually want to do by contacting you again? The response from the Lower Saxony police:
As this scam continues, the perpetrators now try to obtain new account, ID and/or access data, but also transfers. Sending links to fake websites is also conceivable.
According to the perpetrators, such data and actions are absolutely necessary for the money to be returned.
This is how you react correctly
Under no circumstances should you respond to such messages and, above all, do not provide any further information about yourself. Report the incident to the responsible police station.
Important: The police will not contact you via WhatsApp or SMS.
