The Family Emergency
A message or call that appears to be from your child, grandchild or a close relative, asking for money urgently because of an accident, an arrest or a hospital.
What it looks like
- A message from an unknown number: "Mum, my phone broke, this is my new number."
- Then an emergency: an accident, a hospital, bail, a missed payment.
- Money is needed right now, and often there is a request to keep it quiet.
How to spot it
- The number has changed and cannot be checked. A relative who really changed numbers can ring you and let you hear their voice.
- Urgency, secrecy and money arriving together is nearly always a scam.
- Ask for a voice call. Voice cloning exists, but most scammers will refuse or find a reason not to.
- Ask something your family knows that the internet does not: a childhood nickname, the dog's name, where you spent last Christmas.
What to do
- Do not send money. No genuine emergency gets worse in the five minutes it takes to check.
- Ring the number you already have for them.
- Ring someone else in the family and confirm.
- Tell your family about the number — the same message usually goes to everyone on a list.
If it already happened
- If you transferred money, call your bank immediately. A payment that has not reached the recipient can often be stopped.
- Keep the recipient's account details and screenshots of the messages; you will need them to report it.
- Report it to the police.
- Telling nobody is the worst option. This scam runs on embarrassment, and silence is what makes it work.
Common questions
The voice really sounded like my child.
Voice cloning now needs only a short recording. That is exactly why the check should not be the voice — it should be calling back on the number you already have.
How do I protect my family?
Agree a password: one word your family knows that is not on the internet. Any urgent message asking for money gets asked for that word. It is simple and it works.