The 18-year-old believed she had participated in a legitimate job interview after being contacted by con artists via phone calls and WhatsApp messaging.
To steal the money, however, the con artists persuaded her into giving them the details of her card.
According to recent statistics, the total amount of money lost through WhatsApp chats and SMS messages used in recruiting scams increased from £20,000 to about £1 million in the previous 12 months.
The number of people reporting these scams to Action Fraud has more than eightfold increased, according to the City of London Police.
Oliver Shaw, Temporary Commander of the City of London Police, believes that this is only “the tip of the iceberg” because this kind of fraud is “hugely underreported”.
