Police warn of new and sophisticated Whatsapp scam with victims losing thousands of euros

The National Police have warned of a new scam used by criminals on WhatsApp in which they pretend to be a family member in distress.

In a statement issued on Monday, April 4, the police said the criminals contact women who they manage to swindle by pretending to be their children to ask them urgently for a sum of money to deal with an immediate problem.

To perfect the scam the fraudsters claim that they cannot communicate directly with their usual phone due to problems with their terminal and that they are unable to receive calls.

Faced with this situation, the victims agree to make the immediate cash transfers as requested.

Finally, when the transaction has been made and the victims actually manage to talk to their children, they realise that they have been victims of a scam and can no longer cancel the transfer.

In recent weeks, several scams have been detected in different parts of the country with which criminals have managed to defraud amounts ranging from 2,000 to 26,000 euros.

In the event of receiving a communication of this type, the National Police recommend that you remain calm and make sure before making any payment that the person you are contacting is really a relative.

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