Dr Rasha Kassem, senior academic and leader of the Fraud Research Group at Aston University, said: “While the warning from Santander is timely, particularly ahead of Father’s Day, it is important to recognise that so-called “Hi Dad” scams are not a new type of fraud.
“Rather, impersonation is a method used by fraudsters to facilitate a range of fraud offences by exploiting trust, emotion and urgency.
“What we are seeing in these cases is criminals impersonating a trusted individual, often a son or daughter, to persuade victims to make an authorised payment.
“The underlying offence remains an authorised push payment (APP) fraud, but the mechanism used to gain compliance is impersonation. Similar tactics are used when criminals pose as bank employees, police officers, government officials or technical support staff.
“The success of this fraud highlights a broader challenge in fraud prevention. Fraudsters are increasingly leveraging social engineering techniques and, in some cases, artificial intelligence to make their communications appear more convincing.
“However, the technology itself is not the primary issue. The real vulnerability lies in the exploitation of trusted relationships and the creation of urgency that pressures victims into acting before they have had an opportunity to verify the request.
“From a prevention perspective, public awareness campaigns should move beyond simply warning people about specific fraud. Fraud tactics evolve rapidly, and focusing on individual fraud types can create a game of catch-up.
“Instead, the public should be encouraged to adopt a simple principle: if you did not initiate the contact, do not assume the person is who they claim to be. Always verify independently through a trusted communication channel before transferring money or sharing sensitive information.
“There is also a need to shift some of the responsibility away from individuals. While public vigilance is important, organisations, telecommunications providers, financial institutions and technology companies all have a role to play in making impersonation more difficult and verification easier.
“In practice, this means implementing stronger caller ID authentication and blocking spoofed numbers, introducing additional safeguards and intervention measures for high-risk payments, improving the detection and removal of fake accounts and impersonation profiles online, and redesigning communication processes so that customers can independently verify contact through secure channels rather than relying on unsolicited calls or messages.
“A more coordinated approach across sectors could also establish standardised verification mechanisms that allow the public to easily confirm whether a communication is genuine. Ultimately, effective fraud prevention should focus on reducing opportunities.
“For criminals to exploit trust, rather than placing the burden solely on individuals to identify increasingly sophisticated deception attempts. Anyone can become a victim of impersonation fraud.
“These offences do not succeed because people are careless; they succeed because fraudsters are highly skilled at manipulating trust and exploiting situations where individuals are distracted, concerned for loved ones, or feel pressured to act quickly.”
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