Dad, I can't access my account, can you transfer me some money?

The identity of someone close to the victim or a relative, such as a child of the victim, is impersonated by means of an SMS with an ambiguous message and without personal data and under the pretext of having lost their mobile phone.

The SMS tells them to contact another phone number via a WhatsApp message.

Once the victim contacts the offender via WhatsApp and the offender senses the victim's interest, a conversation begins in which the scammer conveys urgency or threat.

The conversation usually lacks personal details and there is never an opportunity to communicate by phone.

The criminal requests various amounts of money immediately for some unforeseen event that he has to deal with and is unable to do so because he does not have access to his bank.

The excuses for requesting the money are usually the purchase of a computer, making an investment, or any expense that does not arouse much suspicion.

Once the cybercriminal has received the amount of money he deems appropriate, or when he considers that he cannot continue with the deception, he cuts off communication with the victim altogether.