Spanish police have detained 102 people in connection with so-called “child in need” scams which have defrauded parents of vast sums. Police said on Tuesday that 238 victims in the south-eastern province of Alicante alone had lost an estimated €850,000 ($911,000) in individual payments totalling between €800 and €55,000. The scams, which are sometimes also called “Hi Mum” scams, see perpetrators contact potential victims via messenger services such as WhatsApp and pretend to be their child. To explain why they are making contact from an unknown phone number, the fraudsters then claim to have a…