Berlin.
Grandchild trick 2.0 is the name of the latest scam on WhatsApp. The number of cases is increasing. That’s why investigators and the judiciary can’t do anything about it.
At first glance it looks like one harmless text messages. “Hello mom, my phone is broken. That’s why I have a new number.” This is how the new one starts
The classic grandchild trick is replaced by the “Grandchild Trick 2.0”. After the first SMS, those affected are asked to save the new number and to contact their supposedly own child on WhatsApp.
Shortly thereafter follows the request for one Transfer. The daughter or son is in an emergency and now has to pay a bill immediately. It is announced that the money would be paid back in the next few days. These are often amounts of several thousand euros.
The number of cases of fraud via WhatsApp continues to rise
Again and again it happens that people fall for the scam and large sums of money, mostly to foreign accounts transfer.
“I can see that online scams like this “grandchild trick 2.0″ have been increasing steadily since the Corona times,” says Oliver Buttler, legal expert from the Consumer Center Baden-Wuerttemberg. In the last few months in particular, fraud via SMS and WhatsApp has once again increased significantly.
In November last year, the Berlin State Criminal Police Office spoke of 200 to 300 reports per month. In January and February 2023, the numbers rose again. Since the turn of the year there has been 300 to 400 cases per month, the Berlin State Criminal Police Office confirms to our editorial team.
Tips and tricks for Whatsapp:
Lack of family contact facilitates fraud
“Unfortunately, the scammers take advantage of the fact that the family network is no longer as existent as it was 20 or 30 years ago,” explains Buttler. Nowadays you don’t exchange ideas every day anymore new number to have is nothing special, according to the expert from the consumer center. Therefore, one or the other does not notice the fraud.
Fraud is not always really logical. According to Buttler, people who have no children themselves have been written to. Of course, the scam flies up immediately.
This often does no harm to the perpetrators. They usually buy entire data sets from the Darknet and then write thousands of numbers at random. Until they meet someone who has children of his own and does not become suspicious. “That’s one organized crime”, Buttler describes the structures behind the scam.
Also read: Spam calls: How to protect yourself from scams
The police lack specially trained personnel
It seems difficult to track down the gangs. Mainly because it’s the police staff is missing. “We need specialists in these areas who know the tactical approach in such investigations and have the freedom to carry out further investigations,” says Dirk Peglow, Federal Chairman of the Association of German Criminal Investigators.
In such cases, it is not enough just to process the incoming criminal charges. Instead, they would have to organizations behind be uncovered. “We have an enormous need here in terms of quality, but also quantity of staff,” says Peglow.
Association of German detective officers demands: “The penalty framework should be exploited”
Online fraud falls under Section 263 of the Criminal Code. Penalties range from fines to up to imprisonment of up to five years. Peglow is rather critical of the demand for higher penalties: “threats of punishment are in principle only able to a limited extent to have a preventive effect. That’s not the panacea.”
“Rather, the existing penal framework for such acts should be used by judges in the cases in question,” Peglow demands. He also believes that the dark figure is extremely high in this area.
Also interesting:Consumer advocates warn of new scams
Not only is there a lack of staff in the police force, but also in the courts: “We should also justice create appropriate positions, especially in the public prosecutor’s office,” demands Peglow. “Here we need prosecutors who have the time to devote themselves to these investigations,” he explains. The result: if there are not enough people, the time and expertise have to deal with online scams such as the grandchild trick 2.0, then a further increase in cases can be expected.
Affected by the scam: Here’s what you should do
Prevention against such scams has been stepped up in recent years, yet there seem to be more and more people falling for the grandchild trick news. In the end, as with all online scams, that Affected shouldn’t react to the news at all. If in doubt, you should block the “new” number and definitely report it to the police. If money has already been transferred, you should contact the bank as soon as possible. Sometimes there is still an option to stop a transfer.
Also read: Fraud – How to spot scammed ATMs
More articles from this category can be found here: Politics
