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There has been a significant increase in nationwide “phantom hacker” scams targeting senior citizens, resulting in the loss of their entire bank accounts, savings, retirement or investment accounts, according to the FBI. These scams, which have evolved from tech support scams, are a form of cybercrime that poses a major threat to older adults.
As of August 2023, the FBI reported a 40% rise in losses from tech support scams compared to the same period in 2022, according to a recent FBI public service announcement (PSA). However, the exact dollar amount of these losses was not disclosed in the announcement.
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According to the FBI, individuals over the age of 60 accounted for half of the victims and suffered 66% of the total financial losses. Older adults often have larger amounts of savings, making them an attractive target for criminals. They are also more cautious about protecting their life savings, as stated by Gregory Nelsen, the FBI Cleveland special agent in charge, in a statement.
Nelsen emphasized the cold and calculated nature of these scammers, who exploit their victims’ attentiveness against them.
How ‘phantom hacker’ scams operate
“Phantom hacker” scams involve multiple layers of deception. The initial phase involves fraudsters pretending to be computer technicians from well-known companies. They convince victims that there is a serious computer issue, such as a virus, and claim that their financial accounts are at risk of being hacked by foreign perpetrators.
Accomplices then pose as officials from financial institutions or the U.S. government, persuading victims to transfer their money from supposedly at-risk accounts to new “safe” accounts under the pretense of safeguarding their assets.
However, none of these claims are true. As stated in a recent announcement by the FBI’s Cleveland bureau, there is no legitimate foreign hacker, and the scammers fully control the stolen money.
Between January 2023 and June 2023, approximately 19,000 victims of tech-support scams filed complaints with the FBI. The estimated losses from these scams totaled more than $542 million, as reported by the FBI PSA.
In comparison, there were a total of 33,000 complaints and $807 million in losses in 2022, according to FBI data.
Tips for consumers to protect their money
The FBI has provided five key actions that consumers can take to avoid falling victim to this type of online fraud:
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