Match of the Day presenter Jacqui Oatley says WhatsApp scammers targeted mum in £2k sting
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A Match of the Day football commentator has warned against a Whatapp scam which targeted her mum. Jacqui Oatley said that someone pretended to be her in messages in an effort to extort over £2,000.
Jacqui, who is originally from Wolverhampton, added that her ‘lovely, kind’ mum almost fell for the convincing fraud. Her mother had received messages from a number which claimed to be from the presenter.
The scammer then claimed that they were unable to access online banking and needed help to pay a bill. They asked Jacqui’s mum to transfer £2,291.34 to an account with the name ‘Marcel de Smit.’
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The convincing messages also included an exchange where Jacqui’s mum asks: “Did P like the set I sent you?” To which the scammer replied: “Yes P liked it” along with a smiley face.
BBC presenter Jacqui has now warned her 163,000 Twitter followers about the scam. She said: “I’m keen to warn you about a scam which my lovely, kind mum so nearly fell for. It was incredibly believable.
“Someone pretends to be you but on a different number, contacts someone close to you and asks them to quickly pay a bill for you before you pay them back.”
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