A few weeks ago, Elisabeth (75) received a WhatsApp message from her daughter. Or at least, that’s what she thought. "She also said her phone was broken. That’s why she was messaging me from a different phone. I have a very close relationship with my daughter. The way she wrote felt completely right, including the ‘hi Mom’. Her messages sounded very urgent. I thought: she’s run into trouble with some awful situation and I need to step in."
"I replied: ‘How did that happen? Shall I call you?’ But that wasn’t possible, because her phone was broken."
Then another message followed:
"Mom, can you transfer €5,000 for me?"
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle"},{"componentType":"paragraph","title":"What’s going on here?","richBody":{"value":""All the while I kept thinking: what on earth is happening? Everything went so fast. And of course I wanted to help her. So I replied: ‘OK, give me the account number and I’ll try to transfer it.’ I opened the ING app on my iPad. I could only transfer €1,700. That turned out to be my saving grace: there was a daily limit set. I told her I couldn’t transfer any more."
"But can you ask Dad for the rest?", came the reply.
"I quickly asked my husband if he could help. But he said that with his bank he couldn’t just make a payment by phone."
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle"},{"componentType":"paragraph","title":"Under intense pressure","richBody":{"value":""'But Lot, what’s really going on?’, I tried again. I didn’t understand any of it. ‘I’ll tell you later’, she texted back. My daughter works in healthcare. It’s extremely demanding and she’s under a lot of pressure. I thought: something must have happened. I didn’t doubt for a second that something was wrong. I even thought: maybe she can at least tell me where she is. ‘I’m on my bike’, was the answer."
"After I transferred the money, I immediately called her husband to ask if he knew what was going on. ‘That’s fraud!’, he shouted straight away. ‘Hang up immediately!’ But by then it was already too late."
"When I realised it had really gone wrong, I called ING’s emergency number. They told me I also needed to report it to the police. The money is gone, because I authorised the payment myself. There’s nothing the bank can do about that anymore. I had transferred the amount to an ING account number, but those people probably moved the money on straight away."
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle"},{"componentType":"paragraph","title":"A child in need","richBody":{"value":""I was completely shaken for three days. That this happened to me… Everyone says: ‘How could you fall for that? You know about those fraud stories, don’t you?’ But I had never heard of this before. People pretending to be someone you know, it’s so devious. You think: my child is in trouble. I have to help her."
"My husband did show me a letter he had received from ING some time ago, warning about this type of fraud. I hadn’t read that letter. But even then: you read something like that and think it won’t happen to me."
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle"},{"componentType":"paragraph","title":"In hindsight","richBody":{"value":""My daughter was shocked too. ‘Mom, I would never ask you to transfer money, would I?’ And she was right, of course, but that’s easy to say afterwards. My son also warned me: ‘Mom, if someone ever turns up at the door, don’t give them any money.’ This will never happen to me again. No one will ever get a single cent from me."
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle"},{"componentType":"paragraph","title":"Nothing to be ashamed of","richBody":{"value":""Elisabeth has nothing to be ashamed of," says Boudewijn van der Valk, Fraud Prevention and Cybersecurity expert at ING. "Many people fall victim to fraud via social media. Scammers play on emotions and put people under pressure. By sharing their experiences, brave people like Elisabeth help prevent others from becoming victims."
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle"},{"componentType":"paragraph","title":"How to avoid ‘friend-in-need’ fraud","richBody":{"value":""This type of fraud is also known as ‘friend‑in‑need’ or ‘help request’ fraud," Boudewijn explains. "The pattern is that scammers pretend to be a friend or family member. They need your help now: ‘Can you cover this for me? I can’t pay right now.'"
Boudewijn’s tips: