Call the old number before you trust the new one.

What is changing now

The current pattern.

Official guidance describes the same short script. Take Five, the fraud-awareness campaign run by UK Finance, uses it as a worked example: a text from a new number, apparently from a son, says he has lost his phone, cannot get into his mobile banking and urgently needs to pay a bill. In August 2023 New Zealand’s National Cyber Security Centre warned of a text campaign in which the ‘child’ said their phone was damaged and, once someone replied, asked for bank or card details to buy a new one. The US Federal Trade Commission warns that the same kind of request can come by message from someone claiming to be a friend rather than a relative.

How it works

How the scam unfolds.

It starts with a short message from a number you do not recognise. The sender opens with ‘Hi Mum’ or ‘Hi Dad’, or simply says it is your son or daughter, and explains the unfamiliar number before you can question it: the old phone was lost, broken or dropped, and this is the new one. At this stage the message asks for nothing except a reply.

Once you reply, the conversation turns to money. The new phone supposedly cannot get into mobile banking yet, so could you pay an urgent bill for them? Other versions ask for your bank or card details to buy a replacement phone, and fake-emergency scams more generally favour payment methods that are hard to reverse, such as payment apps and gift cards. Paying ‘their’ bill means sending money to account details supplied in the chat — not to your relative.

Everything the scam needs happens inside the new conversation. The scammer controls the number, the story, the tone and the excuses for not talking, so nothing in that chat can confirm who is typing. A call to the number you have always used, or a word with someone close to the person, steps outside it. The same check works for the friend-in-need version, where the message claims to come from a friend rather than a relative.

Warning signs

Reasons to stop and verify.

• A message from an unknown number saying it is your son, daughter, relative or friend, with a lost or broken phone
• A reason they cannot use their own banking — so could you pay a bill or transfer money for them?
• Pressure to pay today, or a request to keep it between the two of you
• Bank details in someone else’s name, or a request for your own bank or card details
• A greeting such as ‘Hi Mum’ or ‘Hi Dad’ that avoids names and details you could check
• Excuses for not talking on the phone, when a short call would settle everything

Spot the signs

What it can look like.

Highlighted phrases are warning signs; the numbered notes explain each one.

Worked example

A realistic pattern, separated into evidence.

This composite example is educational. It does not describe a real person or reproduce a live malicious message.

Independent verification

Test the request without using its evidence.

These checks deliberately move the decision away from the person, link, number or account that introduced the request.

1. 01

   Call the number you already have

   Use the number saved in your phone before this message arrived, not the new one. If they answer on the phone that was supposedly lost or broken, the story is false. Take Five’s advice is simple: speak to them directly before you transfer anything.

2. 02

   Ask someone close to them

   An unanswered call proves nothing either way. Contact another relative, a partner, a housemate or a close friend, even if the message asked you to keep it quiet.

3. 03

   Ask what only they would know

   If you reply at all, ask a question a stranger could not answer from social media, or for your family’s agreed code word. A vague, wrong or offended answer tells you to stop; a right one still means calling before you pay.

4. 04

   Check where the money is going

   Even after you have spoken to them, look at the destination. If they really need help, you can pay the company directly through its own website or app, or send money to an account you already know is theirs.

Prevention

Make the next attempt harder.

1. 01

   Agree a family money rule

   Decide together that any request for money from a new number is checked with a call to the old one, however urgent it sounds. Saying it in advance — ‘if I ever ask from a new number, ring me first’ — makes the check feel normal rather than rude.

2. 02

   Choose a family code word

   The FBI recommends creating a secret word or phrase with your family to verify their identity. Agree it in person, keep it off social media and messages, and use it as an extra check rather than a replacement for a call.

3. 03

   Keep a second contact for each person

   Save numbers for your children’s partners, housemates or close friends, and give your family a second contact for you. When a phone really is lost, there is still someone you can ask.

4. 04

   Limit what strangers can see

   Check privacy settings and think about what is public: family names, nicknames, where your children study or work, and travel plans. Take Five warns that criminals use information shared online to make their scams more convincing.

If you already acted

Protect access and contact the real provider.

Common questions

Short answers to real doubts.

Sources

Official guidance used for this article.

Stop & Verify summarises these sources for general education. Reporting routes and legal protections vary by location.