FBI reissues warning on scam that wipes out bank accounts

Amid increasing levels of mortgage fraud, the FBI has renewed a warning to Americans about an app that could trick victims into losing their entire banking, savings, retirement or investment accounts.

The FBI first issued a public service announcement on the Phantom Hacker scam in September 2023. But on July 15, the bureau’s Los Angeles office warned of the scam agains through a social media post on X.

“The FBI reminds the public to beware of Phantom Hacker Scams where cyber criminals use a 3-prong attack against victims using tech support, financial institution, & government impersonation scams simultaneously,” the post read.

“Phantom Hacker” scams commonly target seniors. The FBI describes it as “an evolution of more general tech support scams, layering imposter tech support, financial institution, and government personas to enhance the trust victims place in the scammers and identify the most lucrative accounts to target.”

The scam is three-pronged, according to the FBI. The first phase involves a tech support imposter contacting the victim either via text, email, phone or pop-up, posing as a real company’s support representative.

The victim is told to call a number and install an application that gives the scammer access to their device. Next, the scammer instructs the victim to open financial accounts under the guise of checking for fraud, identifying which accounts hold the most money.

Finally, the victim is told to expect a call from their bank’s fraud department, which is also part of the scam. The number could be spoofed to appear to be the bank’s genuine number.

In phase two, a scammer posing as a bank official claims the victim’s accounts were hacked and urges them to transfer funds via wire, crypto or cash to a fake “safe” government account while warning them not to tell anyone about the transaction.

In the final phase, a scammer posing as a government official tells the victim their money is still at risk and must be moved to a secure “alias” account. If the victim grows suspicious, the imposter may send fake documents with official-looking government letterhead to make the scam seem legitimate, the FBI said.

The bureau also reported that from January to June 2023, losses from these scams topped $542 million, and the agency received 19,000 complaints. Of these complaints, nearly half were from victims over the age of 60. Many lost entire bank, retirement or investment accounts while believing they were protecting their assets.

Most major banks and tech companies give the same warning — they will never call out of the blue to report this type of fraud. They recommend calling your banks independently for reassurance.