WhatsApp ‘Hi Mum’ scam — how to get your money back.

Scammed on WhatsApp by a 'Hi Mum, new number' message? If you paid by bank transfer, your bank must usually refund you. What to do now and how to claim.

Can I get my money back from a WhatsApp "Hi Mum" scam?

In most cases, yes. Bank transfers made from a UK account in response to a WhatsApp impersonation scam are covered by the PSR Mandatory Reimbursement Scheme (in force from 7 October 2024). Your bank must reimburse you up to £85,000 unless it can prove you acted with gross negligence. Acting promptly out of concern for a family member you believed was in difficulty is not gross negligence.

I got scammed on WhatsApp. What can I do?

Call your bank's fraud line straight away and ask it to try to recall the payment. Save or export the whole chat, check with your family member on their usual number, then make a refund claim to your bank under the PSR scheme.

How do I report a scammer on WhatsApp?

Open the chat and use WhatsApp's built-in Report option, which also lets you block the number. Save or export the chat first, because your bank will want to see the messages as evidence.

I only sent £500. Is it worth claiming?

Yes. The PSR scheme applies to all APP fraud over the £100 excess. There is no minimum loss threshold for a bank claim or a Financial Ombudsman complaint. Start with the bank — the process is straightforward for straightforward cases and a bank claim costs you nothing.

I verified the number before paying. Will the bank still refund me?

Verifying the number on its own does not defeat your claim — the whole point of the scam is that the number appears new and the scammer knows personal details that make them plausible. What the bank must establish is whether you acted with gross negligence, not just whether you made a reasonable mistake. Reasonable mistakes, even ones that could have been avoided, do not constitute gross negligence under PSR guidance.

The scammer knew my child's name and some details about our family. How?

Scammers harvest personal information from social media profiles — Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are common sources. A profile that lists family members, school or university name, or recent life events gives scammers everything they need to make the opening message credible. This does not affect your refund entitlement, but it is why the message was so convincing.

What if I paid by credit card or bank card, not a bank transfer?

Card payments are outside the PSR reimbursement scheme, which covers Faster Payments and CHAPS bank transfers only. If you paid by debit card, ask your bank whether a chargeback is possible. If you used a credit card for a purchase of £100–£30,000, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 gives you a separate claim against your credit card issuer. For smaller credit card payments, chargeback is an option through Visa or Mastercard. Report to your bank and explain the circumstances regardless of payment method.

I sent multiple payments before I realised. Can I claim for all of them?

Yes. The PSR cap of £85,000 applies per claim, not per payment. A series of related payments made to the same scammer is treated as a single APP fraud claim. The 13-month reporting window runs from the date of the last payment.

If you sent money by bank transfer after a ‘Hi Mum’ message, you can usually get it back. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) reimbursement scheme requires your bank to refund you up to £85,000 unless it can show you acted with gross negligence. Call your bank’s fraud line straight away.

How do ‘Hi Mum’ scams work?

The WhatsApp family impersonation scam — sometimes called the “Hi Mum” or “Hi Dad” scam — is one of the highest-volume APP fraud types in the UK. Action Fraud recorded tens of thousands of reports in 2023 and 2024. The mechanism is simple and, in the right circumstances, almost impossible to see through in the moment.

The scammer sends a WhatsApp message from an unknown number claiming to be an adult child, a sibling, or another close family member. The message explains that their phone was broken, lost, or stolen and this is a temporary new number. They ask you not to save the new number yet or not to call because the phone cannot make calls. A financial urgency follows quickly: an unpaid bill, a fine, a ticket, rent, something that requires a bank transfer before a deadline.

The scam works for several reasons. WhatsApp is where family communication genuinely happens. Losing a phone is a plausible emergency. The request is framed as temporary and urgent — conditions that push people to act before thinking. And scammers frequently harvest personal details from social media to make the opening message credible: they may know your child’s name, their university, their partner’s name, or recent family events. UK Finance estimates this fraud type generated over £50 million in losses across 2022 and 2023, with an average victim loss of around £2,000.

Red flags to recognise

What to do in the first 24 hours

Your legal right to a refund

WhatsApp impersonation payments are Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud. You authorised the bank transfer — but your authorisation was obtained by deception. The PSR Mandatory Reimbursement Scheme, in force since 7 October 2024 under the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013, makes your sending bank responsible for reimbursing you up to £85,000 per claim, without having to prove the bank did anything wrong.

Under the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) reimbursement rules, the bank should reimburse you within five business days of your claim. It can ‘stop the clock’ to gather more information, but must reach an outcome within 35 business days. If you complain about a refusal, the bank must send a formal final response letter within 15 business days (35 business days at most in exceptional circumstances) under FCA DISP (Dispute Resolution) rules.

A £100 excess applies to standard non-vulnerable consumers. Older customers, people experiencing mental health difficulties, or those who were under significant emotional stress at the time of the scam may qualify as vulnerable consumers, in which case the excess is waived and gross-negligence refusal grounds do not apply. The FCA’s Consumer Duty (Principle 12) requires banks to treat vulnerable customers fairly and proactively.

The 13-month reporting deadline under the PSR scheme runs from the date of the last fraudulent payment. The Limitation Act 1980 section 5 gives you six years for a civil claim, but the PSR scheme’s 13-month window is shorter and should be treated as the operative deadline.

Common bank refusal arguments — and how to counter them

“You did not try to verify the payment with the real person first.”

The scammer specifically told you not to call the old number or made it seem impossible to do so. This is not negligence on your part — it is the scam’s operating mechanism. The PSR guidance does not impose a duty to call family members before every bank transfer.

“You should have recognised this as a known scam type.”

Awareness of scam types in the abstract does not mean a victim must recognise a scam in the moment when their emotional attention is on a child or parent they believe to be in difficulty. Banks have a Consumer Duty obligation to take active steps to protect customers, not merely to tell them scams exist.

“You ignored a payment warning on our app.”

A generic “beware of scams” interstitial is not specific enough to constitute a legally sufficient warning under PSR guidance. The warning must be specific to the fraud type and prominently displayed at the point of the specific transaction.

Escalating to the Financial Ombudsman

If the bank refuses your claim and issues a final response letter, you have six months to escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), free of charge. The FOS applies a “fair and reasonable” test, is not bound by the bank’s reasoning, and can order full reimbursement plus 8% interest and distress compensation. See our guide on what to do immediately after a scam and the full scam refund process. For impersonation of institutions rather than family members, see our guide on safe-account scams and HMRC impersonation scams.

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Not legal advice. This guide is for general information only. For advice specific to your circumstances, consult a regulated legal professional or contact Citizens Advice.