The Australian father revealed how he was duped by thousands of very convincing WhatsApp scams.
DownUnder scientist Alan Baxter explained that punctuation errors made him aware of the scam and avoided it.
The scammers posed as his son and tried to persuade Alain to help them financially.
“Dad, I was going to pay today, but as you can see, I can’t do it by myself,” the scammer wrote on WhatsApp.
‘Can you help me? I’ll send you the details if you want.”
Baxter showed how a scammer tried to pay him $4,700 AUS (£2,691) by posting the entire interaction on Twitter.
An interesting case of attempted fraud @ANZ_AU He refused to act. I received a text from an unknown number asking my son for help and sending money to an ANZ bank account. / two pic.twitter.com/HVRePfHMWu
-Alan Baxter@
›(@AlanBixter) June 18, 2022
›(@AlanBixter) However, he soon realized that the message had not been sent by his son.
“My son is an English teacher so I was warned about the lack of grammar and punctuation,” Baxter told the Daily Mail.
He then says that he continued to verify the authenticity of the fraud at his bank, ANZ, Australia.
“I first contacted the ANZ customer service line but was told this had nothing to do with banking and there was nothing I could do,” he said.
“I thought it was an opportunity for banks to close or freeze their accounts and investigate the money they received.”
Baxter said the bank’s customer service representative did not collect fraudulent details and hanged him when he asked to speak to his superiors.
“All of this begs the question of what is the responsibility of banks to promote fraud in such situations,” Baxter wrote on Twitter.
“They clearly take advantage of the fraud, provide resources to activate it, and refuse to act even when they provide evidence.”
ANZ Bank now appears to impose “restrictions” on spammers’ accounts.
All this raises the question of what is the responsibility of the banks in this situation. They are clearly exploiting fraud, providing resources to activate it, and refusing to act even if proof is provided. Quite remarkable.
-Alan Baxter@
Last year, WhatsApp users warned about the so-called “poor kid” scam that nearly freed Baxter from funding.
“WhatsApp protects users’ private messages from start to finish by encrypting them, but we want to remind people that they have a role to play in protecting their accounts by keeping an eye out for fraud,” said manager Catherine Harnett. ..
“We recommend that all customers do not share their 6-digit PIN with others, including friends and family. Also, to improve security, all customers must perform a two-step verification. It is recommended.
According to WhatsApp, if you receive a suspicious message (even if you think you know who it is), calling or requesting a voice note is the fastest way to find out who they are.
Source: Metro
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