Nanaimo RCMP say a woman recently lost $1,800 in a scam involving the use of texting platform WhatsApp.
The woman told police her daughter is travelling overseas and the mother had been using WhatsApp to communicate with her.
But several weeks ago, her daughter said that her WhatsApp account had been blocked and they should start contacting each other using Instagram.
On Feb. 13, the woman received a text on WhatsApp that she thought was from her daughter, and mistakenly believed it would be fine to resume using WhatsApp with her.
In the conversation that ensued, the woman was told by a fraudster posing as her daughter that she had dropped her smartphone in a toilet and needed $1,800 for a replacement.
The woman was directed to buy nine Vanilla pre-paid Mastercards at gas stations and at Wal-Mart, then send the 10-digit code from each card.
When the fraudster asked for more money, the woman realized she was being taken and called police.
“The clerk at each location warned her that it appeared she was being scammed,” said Reserve Const. Gary O’Brien. “The victim, however, overlooked the warning signs because in her mind she was simply helping her daughter out of a bind.”
jbell@timescolonist.com
