The six-word text message that saw an Aussie mum lose thousands to cruel scammers posing as her estranged son
An Australian mother has lost thousands of dollars after receiving a six-word text message from devious scammers posing as her estranged son.
Heijin, from Brisbane, had not been in touch with her 25-year-old son Daniel Lee for years when she received a text from an unknown number in August.
“Mom, my phone isn’t working,” the six-word message read.
“She thought it was me so she called and she said it was someone who looked like me,” Lee told Daily Mail Australia.
“He could have used AI, or he just couldn’t have even sounded like me. My mother was so eager to hear from me that she might have thought I was a man with a deep voice.”
The scammer asked Heijin for help with bills, urging her to deposit a total of $4,000 into two bank accounts until she accepted “out of desperation.”
The full extent of the scam was revealed when Heijin and her son reconnected over lunch last Friday after years of estrangement.
‘She said she would like to help me get money. I said, what are you talking about? I never asked you for money,” Mr. Lee recalled.
Brisbane woman Heijin (pictured with her son Daniel Lee) had been estranged from her son for several years when she received a text from an unknown number in August
Daniel Lee (pictured) said he was heartbroken after his mother lost $4,000 to scammers
When Heijin realized she had sent $4,000 to a stranger, she felt sick to her stomach and was unable to finish her meal during what should have been a happy reunion.
Mr Lee said it was “heartbreaking” that his mother thought she was sending him money to help him further his dancing career.
He said emotions were “volatile” when his mother was targeted by scammers because their 24-year-old pet Ginger had recently been put down.
‘This was a devastating blow to her not only financially, but also emotionally, as it undermined her sense of confidence. “When I saw her heart sink as I saw her realize she hadn’t sent the money to me, I was torn inside,” he wrote.
‘I want to make sure she gets everything she’s entitled to, because that’s just not right. I want to show her that I still love her.’
Mr Lee and his mother are not the only Queensland family to have been ripped off.
The Rose family lost $40,000 after scammers tricked them into handing over their home deposit just days after purchasing their dream home.
A cunning scammer hacked into the email thread between them and the law firm handling the sale of the house.
Mr Lee (pictured) said his mother thought she was sending him the money – which was sent to two separate bank accounts – to help with his career as a dancer