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Parents have been urged to stay alert as experts warn a WhatsApp scam in which fraudsters target mothers and fathers while pretending to be their children is evolving art “breakneck speed”.
The scam begins with a text, starting “Hi mum” or “Hi dad”, before the sender tells of losing their phone and being locked out of their bank account. Eventually the scammer asks the person to transfer some money or cover rent.
These messages tend to arrive via WhatsApp or text, although the fraudsters don’t always masquerade as offspring, sometimes opting to be close friends or even claiming to be the recipient’s parents.
Action Fraud reported that ‘Hi Mum’ and ‘Hi Dad’ scam texts led to a total financial loss of £226,744 between 2023 and 2025 for victims across the United Kingdom, according to a Freedom of Information request.
Data from Santander UK shows that among customers of the bank, fraudsters who pretended to be someone’s son were the most successful, followed by daughters, then mothers.
Chris Ainsley, the bank’s head of fraud risk management, warned the scams are evolving at “breakneck speed”. He said: “We’re hearing of instances where AI voice impersonation technology is being used to create WhatsApp and SMS voice notes, making the scam seem ever more realistic.”
“If you’re ever asked for money out of the blue on any social or communication platform, verify the request by picking up the phone.”
These “smishing” scams start with a friendly message from someone claiming to be close to the recipient from an unknown number. If the recipient does not respond, they may send repeated messages before giving up. Those who do respond will find the fraudsters aim to enter a conversation with generic details.
Quickly into the exchange, these fraudsters will claim they urgently need money and put pressure on the recipient for quick help. This could be to do with buying a new phone or paying an urgent bill.
The primary aim of this exchange is for the fraudsters to get money; one crucial detail is that the “senders” usual bank account will be out of the question for the transfer, meaning they will ask the recipient to send money to an account they are unfamiliar with.
For those worried about whether their loved one is in real trouble, experts recommend trying them on their real number - and not panicking if they don’t answer right away.
Other ways of checking for certain could be by waiting to see them in person or asking them a question only the other person would know the answer to.
Consumer advice service Which? suggests that to prevent future scams of this kind, it’s worth setting up a family password to check a sender’s credentials.
Recipients who think they’ve been scammed, and have already transferred the cash, can call their bank straight away to stop the payment.
WhatsApp messages can be reported via the app and scam texts can be forwarded to the number 7726, which goes to the telephone network providers. All scams can be reported to Action Fraud.
English (US) ·