Warning to SENIORS - Billion $$$ SCAM alert.
 

FBI warns seniors about billion-dollar scam draining retirement funds, expert says AI driving it.

FBI warns three-phase scheme uses tech support, bank and government impostors to target elderly victims.

A cybersecurity expert warns that a scam that has been used to drain entire life savings or retirement accounts has become "devastating" for seniors.

FBI Los Angeles on July 15 posted a reminder on X about the Phantom Hacker Scam, which has cost Americans over $1 billion since at least 2024, according to the agency. The FBI said the scam targets senior citizens and warns that victims could lose their "life savings."

The scam operates in three phases: a "tech support impostor," "financial institution impostor" and a "US government impostor."


In the first phase, a tech support impostor will contact victims through text, phone call or email, then direct them to download a program allowing the scammer remote access to their computer. Then, the scammer asks victims to open their financial accounts to "determine whether there have been any unauthorized charges," which the FBI says "is most lucrative for targeting." Afterwards, the scammer will choose an account to target, then tell the victim they will get a call for further instructions from the "fraud department" of the bank hosting their account.

In the second phase, the financial institution impostor will then call the victim and inform them that their funds have been "accessed by a foreign hacker" and must be moved to a "safe" third party account. Victims are then instructed to send the money via wire transfer, cash or cryptocurrency, and are told to send "multiple transactions over a span of days or months."

In the third phase of the scam, the victim could be contacted by someone posing as a U.S. government employee, who prompts the individual to move their funds to an "alias" account for protection.ete Nicoletti, chief information security officer at Check Point, told Fox News Digital the scam has become "devastating" for seniors, and said families need to have discussions with their loved ones to keep them protected. Nicoletti said scammers are now getting personal with some of their tactics, targeting people with specific interests they have. "The family should have dinner-time discussions about this," Nicoletti said. "But, you know, seniors are posting things on Facebook like they're a Corvette collector. The criminals are actually using artificial intelligence to look for those type of characteristics and profiles. And they'll send you an email or a message saying, 'hey, that Corvette that you ordered a month ago is now available. It's, you know, for $500, you can get it…and we'll deliver it to you right away. And of course, the senior goes, 'well, I'm a Corvette collector. Maybe I was forgetful and I didn't know that I ordered that Corvette, or, you know."
Nicoletti said that victims rarely get their money back, even after reporting it stolen to authorities.

"It's devastating," he said. "If [victims report their funds stolen] the same day, there's a chance. I think it's in the single digit percentages. It's, you know, 10, 15%. I've heard, I have heard of people getting their money back. If it delayed beyond that, it's not good. It's gone."

This scam is simpler. Trust no one!
Scams impersonating loved ones in trouble are surging, with criminals using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to clone the voices of family members from social media or other recordings. This "AI voice cloning scam," a variation of the traditional grandparent scam, creates a sense of urgency and emotional manipulation by claiming a loved one is in a dire, secret emergency, demanding immediate payment via wire transfer or gift cards. To protect yourself, do not send money or personal information. Instead, hang up and call your loved one directly using a known phone number to verify their identity

I hate to say it, but you need to be pretty stupid to fall for that scam. It is almost like you are asking someone to steal your money.

It’s pretty simple really, we do not respond to texts, emails or phone calls from people we don’t know

The Internet is both a blessing (contact schoolmates, distance relatives, etc.) and a curse at the same time. Proceed with due diligence and caution.

Often times the difference between a sophisticated scam and a stupid victim is whether you are the one who fell for it.

Different versions of these imposter scams have been going on for years. They must be lucrative or the scammers would have moved on to something different. The solution is almost always the same: Don't accept unsolicited assistance and always contact the (bank, police, fbi, credit card company, amazon, etc) through a number you found yourself.

What I wonder is why, since they have been around so long, these scams still work? The seniors/retirees today were the young people of yesterday who warned their parents against these scams. What changed that they are now falling victim to the same thing?

I am now getting "job offers" by text. Are they real?;);););););)

You mean work from home, part time and make $50000 a year? Absolutely 😂😂😂

The easiest thing you can do is to keep your money in a reputable investment company like Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab, and to set up a "two-step" verification system to log in. That way, even if a scammer gets access to your computer or to your username and password, they cannot access your account. Obviously, if an account holder removes money from their own account and sends it to a scammer, no one can help them.

I condensed your response to put the focus on your last question. I know of two elderly people right now being scammed, they've been informed but they don't want to stop. One a widow, no children and is seeking a man because she is sooo lonely and has so far gone through two romantic situations, definitely scammers which friends and family finally destroyed her resolve to continue. She is now dating some who purports to have "lots of money" and heaven knows where this one will go. The next is an elderly woman with little money and someone is offering to help her with her accounts. The business that caught the scam advised the woman immediately that she was being scammed. She declared no, this person was so nice and kind. The business convinced the woman to call the police department while she was there. The police said, yep.. sounds like scam and wanted to meet with the woman when she finished her errands. She said not today, she was too busy.. The business knew she wasn't going to talk with the police. The business then suggested while she was there, they would contact her son and he could help her. She started crying and said she didn't want him to know and that this person scamming her was so nice. At that point she left. We know what continued to happen to that lady. To answer your question, scamming is most apt to happen to elderly, lonely people looking for companionship and kindness. It's a very sad picture.

Why? Who really knows, unless it is to say that the scams are far more involved and targeted today (no AI a generation ago simulating our granddaughter's voice) and some retirees, even if not diagnosed, are often experiencing diminishing mental functioning.

But that's the quick answer (or one of them, anyway). If people want to get a better understanding, Psychology Today has a great article on this topic; "Why We Get Conned and How to Avoid It" (Daniel J. Simons, Ph.D and Christopher Chabris, Ph.D.) apa dot org. It is a transcript of a podcast from 2023 and is quite long, but does a really good job of explaining why people fall for what they do.

Ever notice they rarely EVER catch scammers EVER! :shocked:

Anyone asking you to link your computer with theirs using "one desk" or something similar is up to no good.

The Villages used to distribute a list of area codes of known scammers (maybe they still do; I haven't seen one in awhile). Most of them were offshore: Aruba, St. Kitt's, Jamaica and the like, plus Eastern Europe. I don't think the authorities can really do much more than that if the scams are originating on foreign soil.

I would consider it an online IQ test. If you lose even a penny, you fail

AI generated voices are going to create a nightmare. It will be used to impersonate people you know to scam you out of money.

If you believe the person you are talking to is someone you know, your defenses go down

AI voices have already been used to scam corporations out of money by impersonating the CEO or CFO.

How can people be so stupid?
 

I am 80 years old and can't imagine how anyone (old or young) could fall for such a scam. Guess common sense isn't so common any more/

There are so many scammers out there. Be careful when calling phone numbers found on the internet for assistance to tech problems.

For example, I was having trouble with my HP printer, and I found a customer service phone number on the internet. I called that phone number and realized that it was an imposter when they started asking to go on my desktop. Their English is not very good, so I cannot understand them too well. I just hung up and reported it to reportphishing@apple.com.

I believe they are scams. I delete them.

Many of the scams over the internet, text messages, and telephone calls are by foreign organized crime groups, and outside the jurisdiction of USA law enforcement. Many of those scammers operate in countries with government corruption.

If you are interested in learning how big internet crime is on people in the USA, methods used, age groups of crime victims, and money losses, below is a link to the latest annual report of the FBI on internet crime. Note that the report is only on _reported_ internet crime. A lot goes unreported to law enforcement.

https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Rep..._IC3Report.pdf

I wonder just how STUPID people are?!? Give someone you don't know access to your computer? Just DUMB! I don't let people I KNOW have access!

You really have to ask? BLOCK & DELETE!

When I become dictator, those scammers will be visited by CIA black op hit teams :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

You have to take it to all emails. Text, etc.
 

The general rule is YOU NEVER CLICK ON ANY ATTACHMENTS on an email, text message, or call any telephone number sent to you EVEN IF SEEMS TO BE FROM SOMEONE YOU KNOW.
The scammers can get information on the internet about you, your family, and friends and then use that information to make it look like someone you know.

If something is sent to you that you really want to consider touching pick up the phone and call the relatives, friend, or company. Ask if they sent the email or text to you before open yourself up tp a scam. If you call a business don’t use a phone number in the questionable message. Look up the number on the back of the credit card or off a statement you filed away, or on the internet (with care) scammers can setup websites that look 100% right, but are scams.

This is the world we live in and it’s not going to change. BE CAREFUL.

I have no idea how anyone falls for this cr@p. I personally know someone who withdrew cash from their bank and handed it to a "courier" at their front door for "safe keeping". I find it difficult to have sympathy for these victims. Morons ... the whole lot of them.

To counter this possibility, my family and I have all agreed to a secret password (actually a pass phrase such as "it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood"). If needed, we can challenge each other to give us the phrase to confirm that we are actually talking with our real relative. This completely thwarts AI scams of this sort.

It’s not a matter of stupidity. If you are still fortunate to have good cognitive abilities at our ages this scam can be quite obvious. But not everyone does and they are perfect targets.

Actually, they need to add about 30 more IQ points to get up to moron status. What you posted is an insult to all the morons out there. :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Also, remember that no bank or financial institution would ask for you to send money via crypto or even worse gift cards, these are signs of scammers because they cannot be traced!

Also, beware of them using the term "vouchers". This is an African term for bank/tellers check

I am 78 years old and have seen some people in my neighborhood begin to show some signs of cognitive decline. A few are being treated for dementia. These people are not stupid. Even people who think they are sharp at 80 may not be aware of their aging brain. Can you at 80 run as fast as you did at 18? Does that make you stupid?

Don’t click on anything you don’t recognize! Got a text supposedly from my cardiologist to pay a bill. A text? So I called the practice and yes, they said they have a new billing system that now texts people with a link to their site to pay the bill. Problem solved.

Excellent point. Some people are so quick to judge without knowing ALL the facts. I have a neighbor who had genius level intelligence who developed dementia and it was sad to see.

No, but it makes you slow. Bad analogy

For those who think they are too smart to ever be scammed:

It is not that simple. Raw IQ has little to do with the potential to be a victim of a scam. Scammers target emotion. They are experts at hijacking the amygdala. IQ level and emotion are two different things.

Several years ago, I attended a talk about scams where the speaker was in law enforcement and his job was to investigate scams. He talked about a case where the victim was a doctor who was scammed out of more than $100,000.

He said sometimes victims are know-it-all types who think they are so smart that they could never fall for a scam.

Other victims could be brilliant but are naive when it comes to reading other people.

I know someone who was brilliant in his career as an engineer. His name is on several patents. He is also a gifted musician. But he has now fallen for conspiracy theories and says things that are cult-talk. He is so far gone that I would bet he could fall victim if a scammer came along to talk him into donating large sums to “the cause.” Another friend tried to get through to him with some sense, but the now obsessed, cult-talker actually said to his longtime friend, “I can no longer have you in my life.” That is definitely cult-talk. Something had hammered the emotional part of his brain, long enough and hard enough, that his once good sense is gone. It is a sad mess.

Loneliness can lead to high vulnerability to those horrendous “romance scams.”

FOMO/Greed leads victims open to too-good-to-be-true investment scams. Some of Bernie Madoff’s victims were highly successful in their careers.

Some people are more susceptible to being lied to and manipulated emotionally than others. It has nothing to do with IQ. It is the result of emotional responses overpowering critical thinking skills.

Boomer

Talk to neighbor before you send your money away.
 

A neighbor told me he fell for a scam, maybe better characterized as blackmail. He was in his mid 80s, had a PhD, and had taught at an ivy league university. He seemed reasonably sharp, mentally. This was about 4 years ago. Someone contacted him, said they with Interpol, were going to arrest him for money laundering or some such. Whatever they told him, they scared him enough that he thought it would be a good idea to wire ~$200,000 to China. It's been a while so the details are hazy, and who knows how much of what he told me was accurate; he was embarrassed. It was almost all of his money, but he had a little left and a pension; enough to live adequately for the next year or two, until he died.
You can see this is not a unique event, if you search: Interpol scam.

So it can happen to smart people too . . .

Well, maybe.

about 8 years ago, "Marshall Alvarez" called me (I still had a land line then) to inform me that he was going to have me arrested on a bench warrant for failure to appear for federal jury duty in Ocala. If I didn't bring him two "vouchers" (African term for teller's checks) of $1500.00 each, he would have "local" law enforcement arrest me and I should have my lawyers present.
I countered with "Since this is a federal warrant and you are a federal agent, why don't YOU come here and arrest me, and I'll have my lawyers here. They're from the law firm of Smith, Wesson, Colt, Remington and Glock and they are real anxious to meet you. If not, then why don't you crawl back to whatever third world sh**hole you came from. Needless to say, he hung up.

Now, people must fall for this, or he wouldn't be doing it. But I'm sorry for still considering that stupid or gullible. If it is dementia related, obviously those people would need a conservator appointed.

They have gotten a lot more sophisticated since then with the use of AI, deep fakes and voice cloning. Those guys were amateurs.

It really shouldn't matter----in the end, the scammer is trying to get you to part with your money. To quote Nancy Reagan, "just say no". If they want $$$, say no. If they want information, say no. If you don't recognize the caller, don't answer. And never click a link in an e-mail. And if for some reason they get you on the phone, DON'T LISTEN AND HANG UP!

You are correct. The word stupid can be taken to mean different things, but most people consider it an insult, and probably shouldn't be used in this case.