Sunday 26 June 2022 06:24 AM WhatsApp 'hi dad' scam almost costs immunologist Alan Baxter 5k after fraudster ... trends now

Sunday 26 June 2022 06:24 AM WhatsApp 'hi dad' scam almost costs immunologist Alan Baxter 5k after fraudster ... trends now
Sunday 26 June 2022 06:24 AM WhatsApp 'hi dad' scam almost costs immunologist Alan Baxter 5k after fraudster ... trends now

Sunday 26 June 2022 06:24 AM WhatsApp 'hi dad' scam almost costs immunologist Alan Baxter 5k after fraudster ... trends now

A scientist who was the target of a 'mum and dad' social media scam where he almost lost close to $5,000 cottoned on to the con thanks to the criminal's lack of punctuation.

Australian immunologist, and avid Twitter user, Alan Baxter has now hit out at banks for facilitating cyber criminals and not getting the scammer's account banned.

'Hi dad this is my temp number I'm using an old device until my phone is repaired,' the message read. 

Immunologist Alan Baxter shared a conversation he had on WhatsApp with a scammer claiming to be his son (pictured)

Immunologist Alan Baxter shared a conversation he had on WhatsApp with a scammer claiming to be his son  (pictured)

Posing as Mr Baxter's 'son', the scammer said he needed money to fix his phone problem (pictured)

Posing as Mr Baxter's 'son', the scammer said he needed money to fix his phone problem (pictured) 

Dubbed the 'mum and dad' scam, Mr Baxter was the target of the WhatsApp con where fraudsters pose as an individual's child in desperate need of cash.  

Mr Baxter (pictured) recognised the message as a scam and contacted ANZ bank after the scammer requested a money transfer into an ANZ account

Mr Baxter (pictured) recognised the message as a scam and contacted ANZ bank after the scammer requested a money transfer into an ANZ account

Mr Baxter said the bad grammar in the message told him instantly it was not written by his son, and promptly contacted ANZ's customer help line to report the attempted fraud.

'My son is an English teacher so the lack of grammar and full-stops alerted me,' Mr Baxter told Daily Mail Australia.

'I first contacted ANZ's customer help line but I was told it (the scam) wasn't related to the banks activities and there was nothing that they can do.

'I thought it was an opportunity for the bank to close or freeze the account and even investigate the funds it has received.'

Mr Baxter alleges ANZ bank refused to take the scammers account details despite the account belonging to the bank (pictured, ANZ branch in Seven Hills, Sydney)

Mr Baxter alleges ANZ bank refused to take the scammers account details despite the account belonging to the bank (pictured, ANZ branch in Seven Hills, Sydney)

HOW TO SPOT SCAM MESSAGES 

1) Scammers can make messages look real. Even if you’ve previously received legitimate SMS messages from the same number, don’t assume all following messages are real. Scammers can ‘spoof’ real phone numbers or email addresses, to make it appear that they come from your actual bank or another legitimate contact.

2) It's different in style from the first SMS. The previous SMS is legitimate and it provides information only. It tells you to log into your account but provides no links that could lead to potentially malicious websites.

3) It has a malicious link. The new SMS contains a link to a phishing website. These types of websites attempt to trick you into giving out personal information such as your bank account details, passwords and credit card numbers. Even if you think the text might be real, it’s safer not to click on any links, and to log into your account by typing your bank’s URL (Uniform Resource Locator) directly into the address bar. The address bar appears at the top of your web browser, and the numbers and letters that make up the URL are the directions to the website or webpage.

4) It's not secure. Legitimate sites containing sensitive information will use https not http, but don’t rely on this alone — some scam sites use https too.

5) It has a sense of urgency. Scams often

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