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A cybersecurity expert warns that a scam that has been used to drain entire life savings or retirement accounts has become “devastating” for seniors.
FBI Los Angeles on July 15 posted a reminder on X about the Phantom Hacker Scam, which has cost Americans over $1 billion since at least 2024, according to the agency. The FBI said the scam targets senior citizens and warns that victims could lose their “life savings.”
The scam operates in three phases: a “tech support impostor,” “financial institution impostor” and a “US government impostor.”
In the first phase, a tech support impostor will contact victims through text, phone call or email, then direct them to download a program allowing the scammer remote access to their computer. Then, the scammer asks victims to open their financial accounts to “determine whether there have been any unauthorized charges,” which the FBI says “is most lucrative for targeting.” Afterwards, the scammer will choose an account to target, then tell the victim they will get a call for further instructions from the “fraud department” of the bank hosting their account.
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In the second phase, the financial institution impostor will then call the victim and inform them that their funds have been “accessed by a foreign hacker” and must be moved to a “safe” third party account. Victims are then instructed to send the money via wire transfer, cash or cryptocurrency, and are told to send “multiple transactions over a span of days or months.”
In the third phase of the scam, the victim could be contacted by someone posing as a U.S. government employee, who prompts the individual to move their funds to an “alias” account for protection.
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Pete Nicoletti, chief information security officer at Check Point, told Fox News Digital the scam has become “devastating” for seniors, and said families need to have discussions with their loved ones to keep them protected. Nicoletti said scammers are now getting personal with some of their tactics, targeting people with specific interests they have.
“The family should have dinner-time discussions about this,” Nicoletti said. “But, you know, seniors are posting things on Facebook like they’re a Corvette collector. The criminals are actually using artificial intelligence to look for those type of characteristics and profiles. And they’ll send you an email or a message saying, ‘hey, that Corvette that you ordered a month ago is now available. It’s, you know, for $500, you can get it…and we’ll deliver it to you right away. And of course, the senior goes, ‘well, I’m a Corvette collector. Maybe I was forgetful and I didn’t know that I ordered that Corvette, or, you know.”
Nicoletti said that victims rarely get their money back, even after reporting it stolen to authorities.
“It’s devastating,” he said. “If [victims report their funds stolen] the same day, there’s a chance. I think it’s in the single digit percentages. It’s, you know, 10, 15%. I’ve heard, I have heard of people getting their money back. If it delayed beyond that, it’s not good. It’s gone.”
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