On Wednesday evening (July 7, 9 p.m.), an unknown fraudster posed as his daughter via WhatsApp to a Duisburg resident and explained that "she" had a new cell phone number. The next day, the supposed daughter reported that she was in a financial emergency and urgently needed money. The 76-year-old wanted to help his daughter and transferred a four-figure sum to an account.

It was only when he was in contact with his real daughter a short time later that it emerged that the WhatsApp messages were not from her and that the man had been deceived. The senior citizen filed a complaint with the police.

The Duisburg police have issued an urgent warning about this new scam in which fraudsters are trying to get money via WhatsApp:

As soon as you are asked to pay money, you should become suspicious and check the authenticity of the request/request by other means (landline, personal contact).

Do not save any external numbers without first making sure that you really know the sender.