The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a public service announcement to the general populace, warning them about the latest financial scam that has been growing in the country. The FBI usually highlights these issues to warn residents about impending thefts and all forms of danger to keep them safe.

In its latest warning, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has warned that scammers and other criminals are now increasingly impersonating financial institutions. The agency claimed that they do this in an attempt to steal money, describing their latest endeavor as what is known as an Account Takeover Fraud Scheme. The FBI claimed that it has received more than 5,000 complaints, claiming the reports have seen losses that have surpassed $262 million.

The FBI issues a warning about new scam to the public

According to the statement issued by the FBI, the scam typically involves a cybercriminal impersonating the victim’s financial institution’s staff or website in order to obtain access to their accounts. This typically happens through social engineering, which includes calls, texts, and emails, or phishing techniques, which usually involve sending fraudulent text messages that have a semblance of realness, so when the victim opens it, they have unknowingly given permission to the scammer.

“Social engineering methods include contacting account owners via fraudulent text messages, calls, or emails to trick the email recipient into providing their login credentials. In some instances, the cyber criminal states there are fraudulent transactions on the financial account and may provide a link to a phishing website that the account owner believes will report the fraud or prevent additional fraudulent transactions,” the FBI’s announcement warns.

The FBI alert also mentioned that in some cases, cybercriminals impersonating financial institutions reported to some account owners that their information was used to make fraudulent purchases, like firearms. The cybercriminal then convinces the victim to provide certain details to another cybercriminal posing as a law enforcement agent. The second criminal then convinces the account owner to provide their account information for checks.

Talking about the phishing method, the FBI mentioned that the scammers often deploy fraudulent websites that look like the legitimate financial institution, or in some cases, payroll websites. The goal is to trick the account owner into entering their login credentials on the website, giving them away to the scammer unknowingly. Once the criminals are in charge of the account, they quickly wire funds to other accounts that are controlled by other criminals in their network.

Scammers move funds using digital assets

The FBI mentioned that some of these accounts are linked to digital wallets, making the disbursement of funds easier for them. In addition, it also makes it hard for law enforcement agencies to track and recover these funds for the owners. It states that in some cases, which include most of all the social engineering cases, the criminals change the passwords to the online accounts, locking out the owners until the criminals finish moving the funds in the account.

The FBI also issued several tips so residents can keep themselves safe from these criminals and their scams. The agency noted that residents should be careful about the details they share with the public online. They also advised users to be careful when carrying out transactions, urging them to use unique or complex passwords. In addition, the agency recommended users to add their real financial websites to favorites for easy navigation.

The FBI also warned residents to stay alert and be watchful against phishing attempts, asking them to report all suspicious activities. “Contact your financial institution as soon as fraud is recognized to request a recall or reversal, as well as a Hold Harmless Letter or Letter of Indemnity. Requesting a recall and obtaining a Hold Harmless Letter/indemnification documents as quickly as possible may reduce or eliminate your financial losses,” the FBI urges.

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