Family Group Chats Can Help Scammers

Halimah Delaine Prado, Google’s top lawyer, says AI phishing scams are growing. These scams come from a Chinese group called “outsider enterprise.” They use AI to make fake sites that look like real brands such as T‑Mobile, stealing money from many Americans and causing millions of dollars in loss. Prado also explains how Google is fighting these new threats.

The last message you saw in your family group chat might have looked harmless. It could have been a beach picture, a flight time, a dentist visit, or an update about Dad’s heart doctor.

These everyday details keep families close. They can also give scammers the clues they need to pretend to be someone you love.

A criminal might already know your relatives’ names, phone numbers and addresses before they contact you. Your family group chat can add the latest details that make the scam look real.

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YOUR SENIOR PARENTS ARE EASIER TO IMPERSONATE THAN YOU ARE

Hijacked messaging accounts let criminals read family chats, names and daily routines, which they can use for impersonation scams. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Scammers do not always need to hack an account. Sometimes a few minutes on a data‑broker site is enough. Sites like Spokeo, Whitepages and BeenVerified can show your name, past addresses and phone number. They may also list relatives such as a spouse, adult children, grandchildren and siblings. This gives a scammer a basic family outline. Your family group chat can then fill in the missing, current details.

For example, you might post that you just came back from Florida. Your daughter could say the grandson is backpacking in Europe. You may also share Dad’s next doctor visit or the date the grandkids start a new school. These updates feel private, but they can be exposed if someone shares them elsewhere, posts similar details on social media, or loses control of an account.

The FBI says criminals use this data in “grandparent scams.” A scammer may learn a grandson is a photographer who often travels to Mexico. Then the caller pretends to be stranded there after losing his passport and camera. The story sounds real because it uses true details. The FTC warns scammers may know your name, where you live and other info found on social media. In short, criminals mix public records with personal updates to create a believable lie.

In 2025, Americans 60 and older reported $7.7 billion in losses to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, with over 201,000 complaints. A data‑removal analysis of FBI data showed 72 % of elder‑fraud cases in 2024 were enabled by victims’ personal data being online. Those cases caused $4.2 billion in losses, or 86 % of the total stolen amount.

An 86‑year‑old woman named Joyce got a call about her real grandson, Grant. The caller said he wore glasses, worked as a teacher and was in his mid‑20s. Her daughter‑in‑law later recalled, “He said, ‘He’s such a nice young man. I love the glasses he wears.’”

Gary Schildhorn told the U.S. Senate Aging Committee he received a call that sounded exactly like his son’s voice. The caller asked for almost $9,000 in bail. “I was sure it was my son’s voice,” he said. It was an AI‑generated voice copy.

Security researchers say criminals need only a short audio clip to copy a voice. Families share such clips in group chats every day. In August 2025, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts charged 13 people in a ring that stole more than $5 million from over 400 victims in five states. The average victim age was 84. The U.S. Attorney said, “Their goal was to trick our parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends into handing over life savings under false pretenses, and they succeeded.”

Scammers do not always use information posted outside the group. Sometimes they take over the chat itself. A common WhatsApp trick starts with a message saying a verification code was sent to you by mistake. The sender asks you to forward it. That code is actually your registration code. Forwarding it can let someone register your number on another phone. The criminal can then lock you out, set a new PIN and start messaging your family while pretending to be you.

Facebook Messenger accounts can also be cloned or hijacked. With iMessage scams, criminals may try to get you to click a disabled scam link so it becomes active again. SIM swapping is another threat. A criminal who convinces your carrier to move your phone number to a new device can gain access without you sending a code. Once that happens, the scammer no longer needs to guess your relatives’ names. The criminal may already be inside the group chat using them.

HI MOM TEXT SCAM: HOW TO SPOT FAKE EMERGENCY TEXTS

Scammers can mix data‑broker records with family updates to create believable fraud schemes aimed at parents and grandparents. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Good. You should not leave the family group chat. Leaving would take away one of the best parts of aging: staying close to family every day. This isn’t about talking less. It is about making a few five‑minute security changes that can close the doors scammers use while keeping the connection your family values.

A few changes can make your account safer and help your family react safely when a suspicious message shows up.

Two‑step verification adds another layer of protection. Turn it on for every messaging, social media and email account that offers it.

WhatsApp: Open Settings > Account > Two‑step verification.

Facebook: Open Accounts Center > Password and security > Two‑factor authentication.

Apple Account: Open Settings > [your name] > Sign‑In & Security > Two‑Factor Authentication.

This extra step can block an account takeover, even if a scammer steals your password or tries to register your account on another device.

Create a family rule that nobody forwards a verification code received by text, email or an authentication app. A real platform will never ask you to send your private login code to another person. A true family member should not need it either. Even if the request seems to come from a child or grandchild, call that person on a phone number you already have before acting.

Choose a word, phrase or question only your real family knows. Before anyone sends money or answers an emergency request, ask for the codeword. Use the rule every time, even if the voice sounds convincing. Do not put the codeword in the same group chat you are protecting. Share it by phone or in person.

YOUR FAMILY COULD BE ONE PHONE CALL FROM A BANK SCAM

Family group chats can reveal travel plans, appointments and personal details that scammers use to pretend to be loved ones. (Photo by Ute Grabowsky/Photothek via Getty Images)

Post beach photos after you get home, not while you are still traveling. Real‑time travel posts show your house is empty. They also give scammers a believable opening line about where you are, where you have been or when you will return. You can still share great photos. A short delay makes the info less useful to someone watching your activity.

On WhatsApp, check who can see your profile photo, last seen status and About info. Consider limiting those details to your contacts. You can also restrict who can add you to groups. For chats that contain addresses, appointments or routines, enable Advanced Chat Privacy when it is available. Review similar privacy settings on Facebook, Instagram and any other service your family uses.

Treat an account as untrusted when a family member suddenly asks you to forward a code, send money, buy gift cards or keep an emergency secret. Getting logged out unexpectedly can also signal someone trying to take over your account. Stop responding in the chat and call the family member directly using a phone number you already have. Do not call a new number given in the suspicious message.

Use a password manager to create and store a different strong password for every messaging, email and social media account. Reusing the same password gives criminals more chances. If one service is breached, the stolen password may be tried on your other accounts. A password manager also reduces the urge to pick short passwords based on birthdays, pets or family names that a scammer could find online.

There is one problem these security settings cannot solve: the data‑broker profile that may have made the scam believable in the first place.

Search for your name on sites like Spokeo or Whitepages. You may find your address, phone number and relatives listed by name. That is the information a scammer can see before contacting you.

Meanwhile, your group chat supplies the current details that make the eventual call or message convincing. The data‑broker profile may have helped identify your family as a possible target.

You can ask data‑broker sites to remove your info yourself. However, the process can take time, and your information may appear again later.

For ongoing help, consider a reputable data‑removal service. These services send removal requests to data brokers for you and keep checking whether your personal information returns.

No service can erase every trace of your data from the internet. Still, cutting down the number of sites that show your address, phone number and family connections can make it harder for scammers to build a convincing profile around you.

Check out my top picks for data‑removal services and get a free scan to see if your personal information is already online by visiting Cyberguy.com.

The family group chat may feel like the safest room in your digital life, but the information shared there can become valuable to criminals. Data brokers may already have your relatives mapped out by name, while travel plans, appointments and everyday updates give scammers the current details they need to create a convincing story. Real families have lost thousands of dollars to callers who appeared to know everything about them. Messaging accounts can also be hijacked through stolen verification codes, weak passwords, phishing attempts or SIM‑swapping attacks. You do not need to leave the family group chat. Turn on two‑step verification, use unique passwords stored in a password manager, create a family codeword and wait until you return home before sharing travel updates. Those precautions can protect your accounts, but they cannot remove information that is already sitting on data‑broker sites. Reducing that exposure requires regularly checking what is public and requesting that your information be removed. Stay close to your family. Just make it harder for someone else to use that closeness against you.

Has a scammer ever contacted you or a relative using real names, travel details or other personal information that made the story feel convincing? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award‑winning tech journalist who loves technology, gear and gadgets that make life better. He writes for Fox News & FOX Business and appears each morning on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

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