“Everyone’s going to think I’m really stupid, for even believing a quarter of this.”

A scam attempt left a Derbyshire woman feeling frightened and worried as scammers targeted her claiming to be her daughter needing cash urgently.

One morning, Angela received a message from a number saying they were her daughter on a temporary phone after dropping her mobile.

Angela initially followed the instructions, exchanging messages with the new number, but had the feeling something wasn’t right.

She remembers how the scammer had made her feel stupid for questioning the messages: “I actually said, ‘Is this a scam?’ and the message came back ‘Gosh you are suspicious, just calm down.’”

The messages then asked Angela for a favour: paying a £650 bill that needing paying that day.

When Angela replied she wouldn’t do this, the messages stopped and a later phone conversation with her daughter revealed that Angela hadn’t been speaking to her at all.

“It was emotional blackmail because I was thinking I should be able to help my daughter. It did affect me for quite some time.”

Derbyshire Constabulary’s Fraud Protect Officer Tammy Barnes said: “These scams are really tough on those targeted by the criminals, as they take advantage of our instinct to help a loved one.

“Angela reached out to us after realising the messages were fake, and thankfully she hadn’t shared money or details, so we’ve been able to support her with advice for avoiding future scams.

“If you receive a message like this, remember to Stop. Think. Tell. Don’t do anything in a hurry, verify the claims that the messages are making, and report it.”

Sock it to the Scammers is a campaign created by our media team to raise awareness of the scams that we see reported in Derbyshire, so that people like Angela know to ignore and report this sort of messages.

For more details, please visit www.derbyshire.police.uk/SockItToTheScammers

If you think you might have been a victim of fraud, you can report it by contacting us on the details below, or to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre, online at www.actionfraud.police.uk, or on 0300 123 2040: 

• Website– We have crime reporting tools on our website: www.derbyshire.police.uk  
• Facebook– send us private message to the Derbyshire Constabulary Facebook page  
• Twitter– direct message our contact centre via @DerPolContact  
• Phone – call us on 101  
• You can also anonymously contact the independent charity CrimeStoppers, on 0800 555 111, or by visiting the CrimeStoppers website: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/.