The FBI reissued a warning this week about a scary scam known as “Phantom Hacker”. There are three phases to the scam and it’s very easy to get caught up into the web of lies the scammers put together. Many people have lost their life savings, so please do everything you can to protect yourself and your family.
Here are the three phases where they pose as imposters:
- Tech Support Imposter: The first scammer poses as a technical or customer support person and have you install something or go to a malicious web page. They claim your computer has been hacked and tells you to check your financial accounts to make sure the accounts haven’t been compromised (while they are secretly watching you access the websites). They tell you to wait for a call from the financial company’s fraud department.
- Financial Institution Imposter: The second scammer calls you to let you know your accounts are compromised and that the funds need to be moved to a safe account with the Federal Reserve or another US Government agency. They have you move money through wire transfer, cash, or cryptocurrency.
- US Government Imposter: The third scammer contacts you by phone, email, or letter. They request that the money be moved again to a different safe account.
I haven’t heard of anyone that was a victim to all three phases, but each one on it’s own is an existing scam that is stealing BILLIONS of dollars each year.
No legitimate person will ever call you and tell you to transfer money or help you with your account. And you also should be extremely cautious of every link and phone number you find on the internet. Even Google’s AI has given fake support phone numbers in it’s responses.
If you are ever unsure of a link or who to contact, let me try to validate the information or find a legitimate contact for you.
