Mum of 22 Sue Radford urges people not to ‘fall for scam’ as son is hacked
22 Kids and Counting star Sue Radford has warned people not to fall for an online 'scam' after one of her sons had his account hacked.
The mum of 'Britain's biggest family' took to their shared Instagram page this week to share a warning with their 515,000 followers after her son Daniel, 24, began to share unusual posts.
Daniel, who has more than 12,000 followers of his own, usually shares insights into his life with snaps of friends, nights out and adventures along with short captions, but earlier this month a post appeared on his account with a lengthy comment attached to it.
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The post on 1 August featured pictures of a white Mercedes car, and read: "Congratulations to me, just get myself a car after my first and second trade with the help of my mentor Julia, never believe a day like this will come through in my life, all thanks,to my mentor... and those of you supporting my trade activities."
The caption included a handle linking to the account of the 'mentor', and encouraged followers to 'give it a try' and 'start trading' for themselves.
Just a few days later, another post appeared which featured pictures of a sprawling brick house, complete with a huge kitchen, fancy bathroom and large back garden.
This time, the caption alleged Daniel had managed to buy the house in 'less than two months of investing' into Bitcoin.
The caption again featured the Instagram handle to the 'mentor', "Julia", and told people to get in touch with her if they were interested in this 'life time opportunity'.
The most recent post appeared yesterday, and claimed Daniel had somehow managed to get himself another huge house, this time his 'very first house here in the UK'.
As well as the posts on Daniel's Instagram feed, his account is now home to a highlight called 'trading', which features screenshots of bank account transactions for thousands of pounds.
After the posts were shared to Daniel's account, Sue shared the final post to the family's Instagram Story and warned people that it wasn't actually Daniel who was behind them.
"This is not Daniel his account got hacked," she explained.
Sue indicated that her son had attempted to regain control of his account, but hadn't had any success.
"He can't get it back so please don't fall for the scam," she added.
The UK Action Fraud website notes that criminals can try to 'lure you in with adverts offering easy money quickly in order to obtain your money or personal information'.
To avoid falling for scams, the site advises people to be wary of online adverts and social media posts, make sure you’re dealing with an authorised firm, and seek advice from trusted friends and family members.
You can find more information about spotting scams on the Action Fraud website here.
Topics: TV And Film, Celebrity, Instagram, Technology
Emily Brown