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Posted on 08/24/2025 11:23:10 AM PDT by Libloather
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.
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.
Pete Nicoletti, chief information security officer at Check Point, told Fox News Digital the scam has become "devastating" for seniors...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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India- scam capital of the world.
My 85 year old dad lost his life savings, his house, everything several years ago from scammers on Facebook. He was very naive about the internet and these pieces of rat filth smoothed him over for about a year, made him feel like they were best friends then started hitting up for money, then had him “invest” in a business.
They had him so utterly convinced, the way we found out is one day out of the blue he announced he was flying to Ghana because he’s involved in a gold business and I knew IMMEDIATELY what it was, that it was a scam, I went bananas, they took him for everything, he even took my moms 401K and gave that away.
And if that wasn’t bad enough I then found out he took out a second mortage gave that away, in total he gave away at least a million bucks, lost his house, they had to move in with me and get this: later on we found out they couldn’t sue billionaire Dork Zuckerturd - the guy who gave us the Biden Presidency - due to the ironically named Section 230 of the Communications decency act, the stupid law Trump wanted to get rid of, the law that protects Zuckerturd while tens of thousands continue to get scammed through Facebook every year and to this day Facebook still allows people to create fake accounts.
With all the news now about these scams, it’s hard to believe that people fall for this. But it seems they do.
Amazing that so many people are that stupidly gullible.
My BIL had $5,000 taken from his checking account via a fraudulent online withdrawal last year. The bank fraud department alerted on it as soon as it happened, froze the account, and was able to claw back the money.
The local bank manager in our small town bent over backwards to help. He said that, after the bank corp investigation, they concluded that it was an inside job.
Thankfully, I never had a personal retirement fund, and I wouldn’t be stupid enough to become a victim of criminals. I worked in uniform in NY State’s prison system for 25 years, and trust no one. I have Verizon’s call filter on my cell phone, and it’s set to ring, only when someone in my contact list calls. All other callers are out of luck and are silenced and blocked.
I think these people prey on the emotions of older people. Unfortunately, many can be manipulated through their fear of losing their livelihoods or through their loneliness.
Real business is conducted through the US mail. And the penalties for mail fraud are pretty severe. I trust a postmarked letter.
When my husband started to experience symptoms of dementia, he would come & get me when something appeared in email that he was unsure about. I’m glad he did that instead of acting on the instructions.
When the elderly start to ‘lose a step’ they are easily victimized.
If I get a return call from a human. I just say no thanks and HANG UP. Unlike my wife, I don't give them the time to explain their product/service. If a smooth telemarketer, they can get you sucked into their spiel. NO THANKS, and hang up.
I told her if she was wanted for a crime a cop would be at her front door, not calling her. Then I asked her the most important “Does the person on the phone have an Indian accent?” and of course the answer was yes.
Hang up with anyone who has an accent.
If I’m in the mood and have the time I tell them that I lost almost everything because of internet people and then launch into a rambling sob story. They usually hang up before the end. If they make it that far I hang up.
If I’m not in the mood or don’t have the time I leave the phone on the desk and let them listen to the TV.
I have an answering machine plus my landline phone can block numbers
Are you telling me that the FBI just recently became aware of this scam? This has been going on for a very long time and there are thousands of Youtube videos by anti-scammers messing with these India based scam call centers. I wonder, does the FBI know that President Kennedy was assassinated?
Too bad there isn’t a button on a cell phone that replicates slamming down the phone, like in the old days of hard lines and dial phones. I’m sure I would use that quite a bit, Although most of the time I don’t even answer. But sometimes it is fun to answer the phone and talk to a scammer And then give them hell.
Just ignore and delete anything that involves your money.
I always like when I’ll get a strange phone call that I don’t know, and it will say in the description, “ USA call. “
so I always laugh and say oh it’s a call from the USA. I’d better answer this.
High-tech version of the old Bank Examiner con, which goes back to long before AI or the internet.
“ I trust a postmarked letter.”
…our lady mail carrier was indicted for opening and stealing mail.
Excellent article.
There are good folks on YouTube who make it their business to call these scam centers, and tie up their phone lines. It’s known as call-flooding.
Why can’t the federal government do something similar, but on a larger scale? It’s wouldn’t cost much, and would do much good.
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