My ‘daughter’ texted for help. Luckily, I ignored it

September 12, 2026 — 5:00am

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“Hey Dad, I’ve broken my phone, this is my friend’s number. Can you message me?”

And there I was: hook, line and would have been sinker until my “daughter” asked for an urgent cash transfer and I came to.

The “Hey Dad” or “Hi Mum” scam, which originated in Europe, is relatively new to Australia but has caught hundreds of victims, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. But when your child calls you with an emergency, what are you meant to do? Do family members now need three-factor authentication?

For a sceptic by profession and, I’m told, a hugely annoying fact-checker by temperament, I am strangely a sucker for scams. After arriving in Istanbul this year I was scammed twice within an hour of landing at the airport. Those nice men helping with the train ticket machines, what harm could they do? About a hundred dollars’ worth, it turned out. And the shoe-shine guy whose brush fell on the street – why wouldn’t I pick it up and chase him to give it back?

These are analogue, old-time scams compared with the golden age of cybercrime we are entering. Just the other day a very nice book club flattered me silly about something I’d written, and if I only sent them a small payment they could promote me to their readers. And let’s not even get started on those attractive Ukrainian ladies.

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Jacqueline MaleyColumnist and senior journalist

Columnist and senior journalist

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