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This used to be a common scam in certain developing countries in the 90s and early 2000s. Scammers would call random numbers until a woman answered and would s

This used to be a common scam in certain developing countries in the 90s and early 2000s. Scammers would call random numbers until a woman answered and would start by saying "Mom?" and if she said something like "Michael?", they would go "Yes, mom, it's me, Michael, sorry the connection is really bad and something is up with my phone..", because of course their voice would sound different. They would claim to have gotten into a car accident, and that they would be in serious trouble (low rule of law in those countries, problems resolved directly between people) unless they sent those people money right away. I forget how exactly they expected the money to be sent, maybe it was mobile phone credits or something along those lines. IIRC the scam was often done by convicts in prison who would get ahold of cell phones somehow and had all the time in the world to try to run that scam.

smashed 3y ago
This exact scam was also performed in developed countries. The money (cash only for.. reasons..) was collected by a "friend" who would happen to be just right there in the neighborhood. Very often a car broke down and being stranded far away, no way to pay repairs, credit cards declined for "reasons".. We called it the "grandmother scam". It does not work with mothers because they tend to recognize their son/daughter voice, even over "bad" connection. But grandma's, aunts and more distant relatives would fall for it. Unfortunately, if you willingly give cash money to a stranger knocking on your door, there is very little protection/recourse..
sergiomattei 3y ago
This happens often where I live. They call me to tell me my son has been kidnapped. I just tell them to kill him and stop bothering me… I don’t have a son.
netsharc 3y ago
A version of this scam involved SIM-jacking so you'd get a call from the son's/daughter's phone number, and if you hung up and tried to call them you'd either not be able to get through or reach the scammers. I guess with WiFi messaging that's less of a threat nowadays (Hmm, wait, how easy is it to hijack a WhatsApp if you've stolen someone's phone number? Oh, you just login and they'll send you an SMS to authorize? Ignore the "less of a threat" idea then.)

smashed 3y ago

This exact scam was also performed in developed countries. The money (cash only for.. reasons..) was collected by a "friend" who would happen to be just right there in the neighborhood. Very often a car broke down and being stranded far away, no way to pay repairs, credit cards declined for "reasons".. We called it the "grandmother scam". It does not work with mothers because they tend to recognize their son/daughter voice, even over "bad" connection. But grandma's, aunts and more distant relatives would fall for it. Unfortunately, if you willingly give cash money to a stranger knocking on your door, there is very little protection/recourse..

sergiomattei 3y ago

This happens often where I live. They call me to tell me my son has been kidnapped. I just tell them to kill him and stop bothering me… I don’t have a son.

netsharc 3y ago

A version of this scam involved SIM-jacking so you'd get a call from the son's/daughter's phone number, and if you hung up and tried to call them you'd either not be able to get through or reach the scammers. I guess with WiFi messaging that's less of a threat nowadays (Hmm, wait, how easy is it to hijack a WhatsApp if you've stolen someone's phone number? Oh, you just login and they'll send you an SMS to authorize? Ignore the "less of a threat" idea then.)