A mother is cautioning other parents to exercise vigilance after she reported nearly becoming a victim of a scam on WhatsApp. Kasi Reid, residing in Coventry, stated she received a voice call on the messaging application from an individual claiming to be a member of the parents’ group at her son’s school. The man subsequently sent her a code, ostensibly for joining a WhatsApp group to organize a Christmas party. However, Ms. Reid discerned that accepting this code would have facilitated the transfer of data between their phones. “He would have had access to absolutely everything on my WhatsApp which was very scary,” Ms. Reid commented. She further elaborated, “I do everything through WhatsApp. All of my son’s stuff is on there, lots of conversations with my mum… Everything is on [there].” Ms. Reid’s suspicion arose while she was still conversing with the man, and she ended the call upon realizing that all her personal information could have been transmitted to him. Ms. Reid described the incident as a seemingly calculated effort to defraud her. She reflected, “Even the time that he called, I thought: ‘You know that I’m a parent, you know that I’m rushing right now to go and do the school run’.” Ms. Reid added, “[He was] dependent on me being distracted and me being rushed so I would give [him] the code.” Martyn James, a consumer rights expert, informed BBC CWR that such scams are increasingly prevalent and can result in severe consequences. He explained that a scammer merely requires an email address and a password. James elaborated, “[They] will try to enter that into every bank account, every shop, every money service like PayPal.” He concluded, “As soon as one door opens, [they] can then commit fraud.” Anyone can be the target of a scam. Here are some steps you can take if you think you’ve fallen victim to scammers. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Post navigation Mother Grieves on Brianna Ghey’s Would-Be 18th Birthday Ballymoney: Two Homes Damaged by Explosions from “Suspicious Devices”