Woman, 53, who received a message from a WhatsApp scam artist pretending to be from her ‘eldest child’ hits back with hilarious response pretending she has quadruplets
- Woman led on scammer after receiving messages from a unknown number
- The messages claimed to be her ‘oldest sand cutest child’ over WhatsApp
- June Morton decided to have some fun and play scammers at their own game
A woman targeted by a WhatsApp scammer gave them a taste of their own medicine after she replied with a cheeky wind-up which left the con artist baffled.
June Morton, 53, from Leeds, received two messages from someone who claimed to be her ‘oldest and cutest child’.
The imposter claimed that their phone was broken and they had got a new number as part of a scam that’s doing the rounds at the moment where the fraudster claims to be in trouble and asks for money.
Speaking to Leeds Live, June said she immediately realised that the messages were from an imposter, but decided to play along to wind them up, saying that she has quardruplets.
June Morton decided to get her own back after being targeted by a scammer who impersonated her child
The number 07537126726 sent June an eery message pretending to be one of her children with a broken phone
She responded to the initial bait, saying: ‘Hiya darling, remind me again who you are xx.’
The scammer, unaware they had been detected, replied: ‘Your oldest and cutest child xx’.
They then claimed that a repair shop had given them a temporary phone to use.
June decided to raise the bar with an even cheekier response, claiming she has quadruplets
Not one to fall for tricks easily, June responded by asking which of her ‘4’ children the scammer could be
Continuing with her joke, June scared off the WhatsApp attacker when they realised they had been backed into a corner
She wrote: ‘I’ve got 4 oldest and cutest children, which 1 are you? X.’
When the scammer didn’t immediately respond June told them she was worried and asked them: ‘I have 4, quadruplets, which 1 are you!!’
Almost an hour later, and without a response, she wrote: ‘Hellooooooo’ before asking them: ‘Are you there sweetheart?’
Five hours later, and after the scammer realised they had been played, June sent a cheeky picture of quadruplets and asked: ‘Please, tell me which 1 of you are in trouble?????’
After June sent a picture of four babies to further her cheeky swipe at the scammer, they blocked her
At that moment the scammer blocked her.
June said her friends rolled with laughter when they learnt of the exchanges
She texted them: ‘Haha, do you think I’m daft?’
Before revealing: ‘My friends absolutely howled laughing, especially at the Google pic of the four babies.’
The technique used by the scammers is part of the ‘Hi Mum it’s me’ method that has gained popularity in recent months.
North Yorkshire Police even warned people about sending money to those claiming to be their children.
The force wrote: ‘This is the scam message currently claiming multiple victims across our county in the last few weeks.
‘You receive a message on WhatsApp from an unknown number. The message appears to be from your son or daughter and explains they’ve broken or lost their phone.
‘This message is followed up by another supposedly on behalf of the child, requesting payment for an urgent bill.
‘Please be vigilant for this and let your friends, family and networks know and if it’s happened to you, call us on 101 to report it so we can help keep others safe.’
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