'Hey mum, I dropped my phone down the toilet': Investigating Hi Mum...
summary
Collaboration with a UK mobile operator yields 342 initial scam texts and 711 engaged conversations where scammers ask for money; interaction with scammers and HLR lookups reveal 1,184 scammer numbers, 486 originating sender IDs, and median lifetimes of 14 days (sender IDs) versus 46 days (scammer numbers). Financial analysis maps 582 unique mule accounts across >30 institutions and £577k in requested transfers, finds WhatsApp preferred, weekday 10:00–15:00 activity, clustered mule networks, and evidence used in regulatory consultations and new Spanish telecom rules.
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chapters (13)
- 0:00Hi Mum SMS scams intro
- 2:42Money mules in fraud schemes
- 3:26Data collection methods
- 6:37Seven scam layers
- 8:08Scammer time patterns
- 8:55Mobile network HLR lookup
- 10:24Scammer number survival
- 11:07Mule account finances
- 12:17Fraud detection amounts
- 13:22Mule account locations
- 14:26Scammer network communities
- 15:10Major scammer case study
- 15:35Policy impact takeaways
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