To think this is a scam

I’d love to say it was impossible for scammers to find out your name first, but it really isn’t. It can actually be relatively simple, especially if you’ve ever used a phone number for work.

Think about it - if hackers can get the details of your bank account and address and spoof the helpline number of your bank, finding out someone’s first name shouldn’t be that hard.

And absolutely none of those ways matter if you block/ignore after checking if it’s actually your friend.

How do people actually get through a day without help when they live in an cloud of fear.

Probably just forgot to sign off with a name. Rather than run to Mumsnet, why not simply message or call the number to see if you know the sender? That would be the logical and proportionate response.

Ditto. I work in FCP and AML and definitely advise not to reply to unknown numbers.

Its a naive viewpoint to say ‘well they’ve not asked for money’ - as we know there’s many ways of scamming without asking for cash

So? What’s going to happen?

No one can do anything with your phone number and a couple of replies while
you check if it is your friend. What do
you actually think will happen?

They can’t force you to give them anything. If you check and it isn’t your friend then you block and move on. Every one of these phone scammers are looking for easily tricked people. If you push back or ignore then they disappear. Even if they didn’t disappear, what do you think they can do?

The hysteria on mumsnet is utterly out of control. Don’t answer your door, don’t answer an unknown caller, don’t reply to a simple text from a friend which didn’t folllw the scam patterns, don’t give out your bank details to anyone (even though they’d re used to receive a payment and cannot be used to make a payment).

This is not a healthy place for people like the OP who are clearly going through something, have issues or are vulnerable.

And?

The block function works after you've replied

Because then you’ve engaged whoever the scammer is.

But what do you think engaging with the scammer is going to do?

Because then you’ve engaged whoever the scammer is.

Obviously not, I mentioned that just to point out not every one is sensible or able to understand these things, having the same old biddy ring me back FOUR times because she had got a call from my number which absolutely was a scam and I told her it was a scam and not to reply to unknown numbers, etc, etc, FOUR times, shows how vulnerable some people are. That lady would no doubt have rung back and probably done whatever the person said so it's worth them randomly sending those messages until they find someone vulnerable.

The police were interested in a theft? Someone broke into my car and stole stuff and the police didn’t even want to know what had been stolen. Maybe it depends on what area you live in as to what resources they have.

I think the first line of the post you quoted was most telling! Checking WhatsApp wouldn’t have been nearly dramatic enough…

Jesus. I have been the victim of a crime. A lot worse than my car being broken into. I think you’ll find that many many people have.

Still would have sent a text back asking who it was or just checked in bloody WhatsApp for the profile pic and name. Did you even do that after it was suggested? Or just no, get the police involved.

got a message from my adult daughter saying that she had been mugged and her phone and bank card were stolen and she was texting from a friends phone- could I transfer her some money into friends bank just until she got a replacement phone and bank card. (for context she lives at the other end of the country in a busy city). I rang the number, turned out it actually was my daughter and someone had swiped her handbag while she was travelling. I did think it was a scam to start with though.

I should have RTFT - didn’t realise it was the OPs real name they’d used.

the ones I’ve seen pretend they're texting somebody, throw in a random name and get into convo after apologising for texting a wrong number.

They don’t usually use names though. They’ll say “hi mum” or something.

What? Spoofing your number is NOT the same as hacking your phone to get to your contact list - and if they’ve hacked your phone I think the contact list is low down the list of what data they could steal!!

but I was saying that in response to a load of posters saying “did they use your name” “is Kate your name” when it was very obvious she was using her MN username in place of her real name 🙄

So after all of that it turned out to be your friend? Wow. Next time just send them a text back, it’s not really that difficult

😂😂😂

And are the police in cahoots?

Deffo a scam, there’s a reddit where people share these all the time. They reply pretending to go along with the scam. It is called r/scambait

OK, I'll bite, how would the OPs bank account be taken over by someone who knows her name and phone number?

It's obvious she's not stupid so how would the scam progress?

Actually if you reply you’re confirming that the number is active and more likely to be touched for a scam.
The op did the right thing in her circumstances.

Sensible OP - no wonder so many people get scammed out of money!

Years ago a common follow up to handbag thefts was to call the home phone number to check no-one was in, or to call it and pretend to be from John Lewis. Tesco/the Local Pub where the bag was "lost" and say the bag had been handed in and arrange for the victim to go and collect it. Then, knowing the house was likely to be empty (and thief had address and keys), go and burgle it.

@KateMiddletonsExtensions I am just going to put this out there and probably get backlash from other users but I deal with fraud victims everyday 😆

So when the police told you it was your best mate, have you spoken verbally to your best friend using the new mobile number? A fraudster could potentially seek you out on social media (if you don't have it locked) and pretend to be the person who you appear to be tagged mostly with. I mean the police wouldn't know your friends voice. 😬

Yes, so not ‘obviously’ as many earlier posters were suggesting.