FBI Warns of 'Phantom Hacker' Threat Involving Sketchy Bank Alerts

pcmag.com:

If you receive a message from your bank or a government official that says your computer was hacked, be on guard: It's probably a scam.

The FBI is warning the public about a surge in “phantom hacker” scams, which target consumers—especially senior citizens—and trick them into emptying their bank accounts. 

The scheme is another variation of the decade-old tech support scam: The victim will see a pop-up, email, or text message from an IT customer support company claiming that their computer has been hacked. But in reality, their computer was never compromised; the message merely scared them into believing it was.

For years now, fraudsters have used tech support scams to trick unsuspecting victims into calling a customer support agent who can ostensibly help them fix their computer, if they pay up or hand over remote access to their computers. The resulting fraud has led to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.  

Now the FBI says it’s noticed new variations on the tech support scam. The fraudsters have gone beyond posing as IT support agents, and will also pretend to be officials at a bank or government agency “to enhance the trust victims place in the scammers.”

For example, one variation of the scheme will involve the scammer pretending to be a bank representative and then falsely informing the victim that a foreign hacker had hijacked their account. The scammer will then urge the victim to transfer their money to a safe third-party account, “such as an account with the Federal Reserve or another US Government agency.” But it’s merely a ruse to trick the victim into wiring their funds to the fraudster. 

“The victim may also be contacted by a scammer posing as an employee at the Federal Reserve or another US