Phone scam targeting Australian parents costs mum $4,500 

Mother loses $4,500 in a sophisticated text message scam from someone pretending to be her daughter: ‘Everyone’s just got to be so careful’

  • Sydney mother Jan Lenton lost $4,500 to a scammer pretending to be her son 
  • She received message on WhatsApp from scammer asking for money
  • Her son lives in the US and she immediately sent money to the details provided
  • She felt ‘stupid’ after falling for scam and isn’t hopeful she’ll get her money back 

A mother had $4,500 stolen from her by a scammer who pretended to be her son asking for money.

Australian woman Jan Lenton received a message on WhatsApp from who she thought was her son, telling her his phone had broken and that this was his new number and he needed some extra cash.

As her son lives in the US, she immediately transferred the thousands of dollars to the account details that were sent to her.

‘I’ve been in business for most of my life, and I’m the one that tells people ”be careful, don’t do this, don’t do that”, and then I fell for it!’ she told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

‘I can’t believe I did it, I feel so stupid.’

Sydney woman Jan Lenton received a message on WhatsApp from who she thought was her son, telling her his phone had broken and that this was his new number and he needed some extra cash

Ms Lenton said she when she tried to ring the new number that she believed was her son, it didn’t go anywhere.

‘When I told my son that I’d transferred money, he went berserk,’ she said.

‘I sat up until nearly 1 am in the morning and I rang the bank and they closed my account.’

The mother said she didn’t provide her bank details to the number but had her account frozen anyways.

‘I know (my son) is buying a house in the US and I just thought he was short of funds so I just did it,’ Ms Lenton added.

‘When you think your child’s in trouble, it’s normal for a mother to send money.’

Coincidentally, Ms Lenton was shopping this week and was chatting to a store assistant when they revealed they’d fallen victim to the same scam.

She said her bank’s cyber security team has been notified but she’s not hopeful she’ll ever get the $4,500 back. 

‘Everyone’s just got to be so careful,’ she added.

Ms Lenton had received a message on WhatsApp from someone pretending to be her son

Ms Lenton had received a message on WhatsApp from someone pretending to be her son

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk