‘Phantom hacker’ scam that targets the elderly has stolen over $1B in the past 12 months
New FBI warning issued over ‘phantom hackers’ draining retirement accounts
- The FBI has issued a new warning about a sophisticated "phantom hacker" scheme targeting retirement accounts.
- These AI-enabled scams have led to over a billion dollars being drained from victims' accounts in the US over the past year.
- Scammers use AI to mimic voices and manipulate caller ID, alongside fake tech support, bank, and government personas to gain trust.
- The scheme typically involves a fake customer support message leading to remote access software installation, followed by imposter calls convincing victims to transfer funds to "secure" their accounts.
- The FBI advises against calling numbers in pop-ups or clicking suspicious links, and the agency says legitimate companies will never call you and offer tech support out of the blue.