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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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I find it hard to believe people fall for this shxt because its so obvious.
Eric Prince + former Delta operators = dead scammers
There is absolutely no place for scamming seniors.
“I find it hard to believe people fall for this shxt because its so obvious.”
They do that on purpose so they quickly sort out the most gullible people from the rest.
I feel sorry for any seniors dumb enough to fall for this. Other than that, stupid is as stupid does.
If you do answer the phone. Hang up and call financial institution to see if all is good. Same thing if grandson calls and says he’s in jail. Call him….he will answer but think your crazy!🤪
It is, other that a fatal disease I can’t think of anything worse and what infuriates me even more is this is never publicized, people aren’t warned as if Facebook is being protected.
I like to scambait on occasion. A few years back, I told them my name was Robert Jensensen. Even today, I occasionally get a call asking for “Robert.” It’s usually a real estate scam involving a property on Cool Springs Lane in “Taxes.” After having them on for a while, I abruptly ask them if their mother is still feeding them with her left hand. Flips them out every time. Oddly enough, I still get that occasional call for ‘Robert.”
It’s horrific. So people are in the dark about this. I think I’m going to do is start a campaign to warn people, it’s astounding how this is ignored and that piece of garbage Mark Zuckerberg does nothing about it. I created a fake Facebook page a few weeks ago just to see, I had absolutely no problem doing so.
I think we need to rethink laughing at seniors who keep their life savings under the mattress. Who’s laughing now?
If you do answer the phone. Hang up and call financial institution to see if all is good. Same thing if grandson calls and says he’s in jail. Call him….he will answer but think you’re crazy!
Yes, unfortunately people (usually the elderly) continue to fall for that “grandson in jail” scam. My 90 year old mother was a victim to the tune of 3K when she wired it to the Dominican Republic to get my son out of jail before his father (me) could find out. The caller told her to not call dad, because I’ll get in trouble. The scammer then called her back the next day demanding more as the judge increased the amount. Luckily she wised up...albeit too late for the 3K !
My grandmother used a whistle. They disappear quickly.
The people who do this are very good at what they do.
Great idea!
I get calls supposedly from some fairly tiny town in this state. I am kind of a geography nut and if I’m feeling spunky I’ll answer and ask “How’s the weather in town X?”
They like to say they’re calling from Medicare Office. I love to just laugh uproariously and say, “There’s no f’ing medicare office is town-X!” “They don’t even have a grocery store!”
Maybe it’s a blessing to be poor. At least you don’t you don’t get quite as many of those great offers.
I hate Zuckerberg...never go on his site. He doesn’t deserve any clicks from me.
First clue is an e-mail claiming to be your bank or whatever with an address that doesn’t match. Does not matter much to me since I never answer a thing from anybody I don’t know personally and see fact-to-face.
It’s so unfortunate. I hate this happens. Unfortunately, very few have been prosecuted.
I have her whistle. LOL They hate me because it hurts.
Any loud sports whistle will do.
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