"Hi Mum, I lost my phone": the WhatsApp child-in-trouble scam
A WhatsApp from an unknown number claiming to be your son or daughter with a "new number" and an urgent need for money. Here's how the scam works and the one check that never fails.
"Hi Mum, my phone broke. This is my new number, save it." That's how one of the most profitable and cruel scams of recent years begins — with a WhatsApp message from a number that isn't in your contacts. Known as the "Hi Mum" (or "Hi Dad") scam, it involves no virus and no sophisticated technology. Just a stranger posing as your son or daughter, and an urgent request for money that lands once you've already convinced yourself you're talking to family.
It's worth understanding properly, because the script is always the same — and once you know it, it's almost impossible to be caught out.
How does the child-in-trouble scam work?
The scammer sends the same opening message to thousands of numbers at random. They don't know whether you have children, what they're called, or anything else about you. That's why the first message is deliberately vague: "Hi Mum" or "Hi Dad", no name. If you reply with something like "Emma, is that you?", you've just handed them the name. From then on, "Emma" writes to you with complete ease.
The conversation follows a well-rehearsed pattern:
- The new-number excuse. "I dropped my phone in water" or "it got stolen, this is a temporary one". It explains why they're writing from an unknown number and why they can't call you or send voice notes ("my microphone's broken", "I'm almost out of battery").
- A few trust-building messages. They ask how you are, make small talk, use emojis. They ask for nothing yet. The goal is for you to relax and accept that it's your child.
- The urgency. Then comes the problem: they have to make a payment today (a bill, a booking, a purchase that "gets cancelled if I don't pay now") but they can't access their bank because the app was on the broken phone and it will take days to restore.
- The request. They ask you to make the transfer or send the money through a payment app "and I'll pay you back as soon as I get the app working". The amount is usually believable: a few hundred, not thousands. And here's the key detail: the destination account is not in your child's name, but "a friend's" or the supposed company's. If you pay, a second request almost always follows.
Why does it work so well?
Because it doesn't attack your intelligence — it attacks your emotions. The combination is powerful:
- Emotion. It's your child in trouble. The instinct to help fires before the analysis does.
- Urgency. Everything has to be solved right now. The rush is designed so you don't stop to think or verify.
- Plausibility. Breaking a phone, being locked out of a banking app, asking your parents for a one-off favour... none of this is strange. They don't ask for anything absurd; they ask for something a real son or daughter might ask for.
On top of that, WhatsApp plays into the scammer's hands: we're used to a written message simply being the person. And if the scammer has previously hijacked your child's real WhatsApp account, the message can even arrive in your usual chat thread. The defence, as you'll see, is the same in both cases.
Concrete warning signs
None of these signs proves anything on its own, but two or more together should set off every alarm:
| Signal | Why it's suspicious |
|---|---|
| New number with no phone call first | A real child with a new number calls you or lets you know some other way; they don't just appear in writing |
| Excuses to avoid speaking | "My mic's broken", "I can't call": the scammer can't imitate the voice or sustain a live call |
| Constant pressure | The messages push: "it has to be now", "if I don't pay today I lose it" |
| A "friend's" or a stranger's account | The money never goes to an account in your child's name |
| Request for an instant transfer or payment app | Fast, hard-to-reverse methods — exactly what the scammer needs |
| Slightly off tone | No family nicknames, no references to recent events, impersonal wording |
Pay particular attention to the resistance to voice. It's the constant of this scam: text is easy to fake; a real-time conversation with your child is not.
The check that never fails
Faced with any message like this, before moving a penny, do one single thing: call your son or daughter on their usual number. The lifelong one, the one in your contacts. In most real cases, your child answers from their usual number, blissfully unaware of the whole thing, and the scam collapses in ten seconds.
If they don't answer, you have more options — all of them better than paying:
- Ask the new number for a voice note: "send me a voice message and I'll do the transfer". The scammer will make excuses; a real child sends the audio without a second thought.
- Ask a control question only your family could answer: the name of the first pet, where you went on holiday last year, what you call your child at home. Nothing that could be worked out from social media.
- Verify through another channel: message the old number, contact their partner, a sibling, a flatmate.
The underlying rule is the same as with scams impersonating your bank: valid verification is initiated by you, through a channel you control. An unknown number that messages you and rushes you is not a trustworthy channel, no matter how many times it says "Mum".
What do I do if I've already paid?
Act fast and in this order:
- Call your bank immediately on the official number (the one on the back of your card). Explain you've been the victim of a scam and ask them to try to hold or recall the transfer. With instant transfers and payment apps the window is small, but flagging it in the first minutes makes the difference. The full process is in how to get your money back after a phone scam.
- Keep all the evidence: screenshots of the entire conversation, the number that messaged you, the transfer receipt, the destination account.
- Report it to the police (or your country's cybercrime reporting service) with those screenshots. The report is necessary for any later claim against your bank.
- Report the number so the next parent who receives the message finds the warning. You can do it in NoCall's spam number directory.
If the payment went through a P2P payment app, there are specifics worth knowing; we explain them in payment app scams: how they work and how to protect yourself.
Protect the older people in your family
This scam targets, above all, parents of a certain age with adult children who live away from home. The best vaccine is telling them about it before it reaches them: walk them through the script ("hi mum, broken phone, new number, urgent transfer") and agree on a simple family rule: nobody in this family asks for money in writing; if someone does, we call them on their usual number before paying anything. You can even agree on a family code word for genuine emergencies.
You'll find more ideas and habits in how to protect older people from phone scams, and our guides have protocols for other kinds of suspicious calls and messages.
In short
The scammer knows nothing about you: you supply the name, the trust and the money. Their only tool is a script that blends emotion, urgency and a plausible story. Your only necessary defence costs one phone call: to the usual number, before paying anything. No voice, no transfer; no verification, no payment.
If you've received one of these messages — even if you didn't fall for it — report it in the NoCall number directory. Every flagged number helps the next "Mum" who gets the message recognise it at first glance.
Article details
Editorial content reviewed by NoCall with practical context for spotting suspicious calls and messages.
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