ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / NEWS

New Phantom Hacker Scam Is Fooling US Citizens Into Liquidating Their Assets

The FBI said in an official release that the Internet Crime Complaint Center of the agency has seen an uptick in complaints of the phantom hacker scams.
PUBLISHED FEB 3, 2024
Cover Image Soure: Phantom hacker scam is fooling US citizens (representative image) | Pexels | Photo by Fillippo  Dal Re
Cover Image Soure: Phantom hacker scam is fooling US citizens (representative image) | Pexels | Photo by Fillippo Dal Re

A new scam is targeting US citizens, especially the elderly into liquidating their assets. Scammers are using live couriers to pick up precious metals bought by victims after selling their assets. The FBI said in an official release that the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) of the agency has seen an uptick in complaints of the phantom hacker scams. In the scam, criminals imposters trick people into giving up their entire savings or investment accounts.



 

The release described the scam happening in two steps. In the first step, the scammers pose as tech support, US government officials, technology support or a representative from a financial institution and call up victims. They then claim that the victims’ accounts were hacked or were at risk of being hacked. They subsequently instruct the victims to liquidate their assets into cash or purchase gold, silver or any other precious metals. They sometimes ask victims to wire the money to a metal dealer who will ship them their precious metals.



 

In the second step of the scam, the criminals send live couriers to pick up the cash or precious metals bought by the victims. They claim that their assets will be safeguarded by the authorities in a protected account. The may also direct victims to authenticate the transaction with the courier using a passcode.

Later, the victims never hear back from the scammers and end up losing all their money and assets. As per another release from the United States Postal Inspection Service, this type of scams are also called smishing, a form of phishing in which scammers pose as officials to steal money or sensitive financial information. 

Between January to June 2023, the IC3 received 19,000 complaints of such scams with estimated victim losses of $542 million. Further, as per the official release, about $55 million was lost to such scams between May and December 2023. In this, about half of the victims were over 60 years old and they accounted for 66% of the total losses.



 

The FBI has clarified that the US government and other legitimate businesses will never request citizens to liquidate their assets or purchase precious metals. The agency has also urged people to protect their personal information like home address and bank account information. It is recommended to not entertain unexpected warnings about hacked accounts without verifying with the official companies, institutions, or government authorities. Citizens should avoid clicking on random links provided in messages from strangers who claim to be representatives of a company or institution. Such information should always be cross checked before taking action.

The FBI has asked the victims report such fraud or suspicious activities immediately to the IC3. The agency has urged the victims to include crucial information like the name of the person who contacted them, all methods of communication, phone numbers and email addresses used, bank account number if received for wiring fund, name of the recipient, name and location of the recommended precious metals dealers. 

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
They also triggered a showdown between Mark Cuban and Daniel Lubetsky before closing the deal.
9 hours ago
As Heather took a second to solve the final puzzle, Seacrest admitted she made it look easy.
14 hours ago
Carey suffered a similar snafu a few months ago while playing the same game of 'Bullseye'.
1 day ago
Fans also share some tips that could've helped Bain win the bonus round but it was too late.
1 day ago
Emily Croke coincidentally got the question related to her great-great aunt, Emily Folger.
1 day ago
Luckily for the veteran host, no one in the studio caught the mistake on time.
1 day ago
The executive producer of the show, Michael Davies later apologized for the spoiled show.
1 day ago
Even the seasoned expert was stumped by the unusual subject of the painting.
1 day ago
In the end, Mr Wonderful cut off Greiner with a deal that the founder of Wad Free couldn't refuse.
2 days ago
Seacrest got geniunely spooked as he couldn't figure out who played a prank on him.
2 days ago
The seller brought some "Secret Service" memorabilia of former Attorney General J. Howard McGrath.
2 days ago
The guest was already emotional because of the backstory involving native Alaskans.
3 days ago
The player once again fumbled a puzzle despite moving forward in the game.
3 days ago
The host didn't want to get more of the weird answers on the show anymore.
3 days ago
The founder of Beyond Sushi impressed the Sharks with 100% plant based flavors.
3 days ago
The Shark jumped back in to the deal as he thought his wife would love the product.
4 days ago
The guest who bought the item at a charity store had no idea that it was over 3,000 years old.
4 days ago
When the rare coin showed up on Harrison's table, he had to take his old man's approval for the deal.
5 days ago
Fans said that such behavior was unnecessary and slammed the antics as self-congratulatory.
5 days ago
Several customers took to social media to complain about spoilt milk that they purchased from the store.
5 days ago