A Markethill mum has warned parents to let their children know the dangers of scammers on social media after her daughter was conned into spending £134 in a Snapchat ruse.
Joanne Brown was first alerted to a problem at 8.28am on Tuesday morning when she received a text from her mobile network to say her daughter had used 90% of her allowance.
Speaking to Armagh I, Joanne explained: “We were just getting ready for school and Molly [her daughter] has a contract SIM, which is connected to my account with a spend cap on her phone so that she can’t spend anything.
“I got a message that 90% of her allowance had been used, so I called upstairs to her and asked, ‘Molly, have you been on your phone?’ and she said no.”
The mum – already suspicious of the activity – knew her daughter was telling the truth but probed further, asking if she had called anyone or sent any texts, as she had received an alert message.
Twelve-year-old Molly replied to say that all she had done was reply to a friend on Snapchat who had asked for her number.
Molly knew this friend well through attending Youth Club together, so the request did not alarm her – but it did alarm Joanne.
She said: “As soon as she said that to me, I knew something had happened.
“I got her phone, and it was a message from her friend on Snapchat, and it said, ‘Hi Molly, I’ve been locked out of my phone. Can you send me your phone number and it will send you a pin?'”
Obliging to help a friend in need, Molly sent the number. This was then followed by another message saying, “Quick, quick, the pin only lasts for 60 seconds!”
Again, the youngster obliged, and within the space of one minute, Joanne said three transactions had been made, totalling £134.46.
“There were three transactions at £39.99 and another one at £13.49, so literally from 8.27am, they were all done in that minute,” said the disgruntled parent.
All she knows at this stage is that the money had been taken through an app.
Panicked, Joanne contacted her network provider, who she said were unable to help.
They informed her that they couldn’t see where the transactions were being made to until her bill had been generated, and even then, she would need to open a dispute against the app that had taken the funds rather than seek a refund through her billing company.
The fact that the money had been taken through an app also meant that Molly’s spend cap did not apply.
Explained Joanne: “I have a spend cap in place at zero, so I thought Molly wouldn’t be able to spend anything at all.
“I have a contract for her that gives her unlimited data, minutes, and texts, but that cap doesn’t cover apps.
“They [the network provider] said it’s only to do with outside text message use, international calling, and an overspend on data.”
Immediately, they blocked the offending account – which had belonged to her friend but had been hacked – and Joanne advised Molly to tell all of her friends to be careful, one of whom narrowly avoided falling prey to a similar ruse.
She said: “One of her wee friends had been messaged the same thing through a TikTok account, so thankfully when Molly warned her, she didn’t reply to it.
“Quite a few people have contacted me to say they have seen similar scams on TikTok.”
The mum now has a long month’s wait until her bill is generated for April 3 but says it will be “interesting” to see where this money has gone.
Understandably, the incident has left her young daughter shaken and scared.
Added Joanne: “It’s scary! Of course, Molly never even thought anything like this could happen.
“She thought she had done something wrong and that they could get into her phone too, but obviously, these things could catch anybody out, and thankfully there doesn’t seem to be any other activity on her phone.
“To prey on children on a social media account is just shocking!”
