he FBI has issued a public service announcement, alerting the public to a significant surge in 'phantom hacker' scams that are particularly impacting elderly individuals throughout the United States.
These 'Phantom Hacker' scams represent an evolution of the traditional tech support scam. They involve fraudsters adopting personas of tech support experts, financial institution representatives, and government officials to gain victims' trust and identify high-value accounts for exploitation. The consequences often lead to victims losing their entire banking, savings, retirement, or investment accounts under the guise of 'protecting' their assets.
In these scams, multiple scammers posing as bank representatives contact unsuspecting victims and falsely claim that their accounts have been targeted by hackers. They employ various tactics to convince victims to grant access to their bank accounts and assess whether the victims possess substantial funds worth pursuing.
If the victims' account balances make them attractive targets, they receive instructions to await a call from their bank, which is actually a second scammer involved in the scheme. This second scammer advises victims to transfer their funds to what is presented as a 'secure' account controlled by the fraudsters.
In cases where targets resist manipulation, a third contact is made by an imposter who pretends to be a U.S. government representative. This third scammer makes a final attempt to persuade victims, urging them to protect their finances by moving their funds to a supposedly 'safe' account.
The FBI revealed concerning statistics, stating, "Between January and June 2023, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 19,000 complaints related to tech support scams, resulting in estimated victim losses exceeding $542 million." It also highlighted that nearly 50% of victims reported to IC3 were over the age of 60, accounting for 66% of the total losses. Furthermore, as of August 2023, losses have already surpassed those recorded in 2022 by 40%.
The FBI provided guidance for individuals vulnerable to potential scams, advising them to avoid engaging with unsolicited pop-ups, links sent via text messages, or email attachments. They should never contact the telephone number provided in such pop-ups, texts, or emails, and should refrain from downloading software at the request of unfamiliar individuals. Additionally, it's crucial not to grant control of one's computer to unknown individuals.
The FBI emphasized that the U.S. government will never demand cryptocurrency, gift/prepaid cards, or money through wire transfers to foreign accounts.
Those who have fallen victim to these scams were urged to report the incidents by filing a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Complaints should include details such as the identity of the individual or company making contact, the method of communication, and the recipient's name and address to which funds were sent.
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