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A message arrives from an unknown number claiming to be a relative who has just changed phones. Within minutes, the sender asks for an urgent transfer to pay a bill. Variations of this scam have spread across messaging apps, and police in many countries report that it has become one of the most common forms of fraud.

The scheme works not because the technology is sophisticated but because it exploits trust and haste. Criminals often collect photos and personal details from social media profiles to make the impersonation convincing. Some even use artificial intelligence to clone a relative's voice from short audio clips posted online, which makes a follow-up call sound disturbingly genuine.

Instant payment systems, which allow money to move between accounts in seconds, have made life easier for consumers, but they have also made stolen funds harder to recover. By the time a victim realises what has happened, the money has frequently been split among several accounts held by so-called "money mules", people who lend or sell access to their bank accounts.

Banks have introduced measures such as transaction limits at night and delays for transfers to new recipients. Investigators say, however, that prevention ultimately depends on users. Their advice is simple: hang up, contact the relative through a known number and never transfer money under pressure.

Older people are frequently targeted, but younger users are far from immune. Surveys indicate that people who consider themselves digitally skilled may in fact be more likely to fall for a scam, precisely because they are confident that it could never happen to them.