SMARTPHONE owners have been warned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation about tech support scams that are out to steal their funds.
Scammers will utilize any method at their disposal to get their hands on your hard-earned cash.
One such method includes tech support scams, which threat actors are increasingly carrying out.
“The number of people falling victim to the crime is on the rise, and so are financial losses,” the FBI said in a statement a few months ago.
WHAT IS A TECH SUPPORT SCAM?
The scam consists of a bad actor fraudulently posing as a technician or as tech support from a reputable company.
“They may call, email, or text their targets and offer to resolve such issues as a compromised email or bank account, a computer virus, or a software license renewal,” the FBI said.
Once they convince victims that their financial accounts have been compromised, they gain remote access to victims’ computers – as well as to sensitive data like banking account numbers.
“Investigators are seeing an emerging trend in which tech support scammers are convincing victims that their financial accounts have been compromised and their funds need to be moved so the fraudsters can gain control over the victims’ computers and finances,” the FBI said.
HOW DO THEY WORK?
Tech support scams could appear as a pop-up on your phone or computer or you may get a call.
The pop-ups typically display a false error message purporting to be from your operating system.
Sometimes, the pop-up may even contain a link or a phone number to call for help.
“Victims are often directed to wire or transfer their funds out of brokerage or bank accounts to cryptocurrency exchanges, or to transfer the contents of their crypto wallet to another wallet to ‘safeguard’ the contents,” the FBI revealed.
“Fraudsters will create fictitious support sites to entice crypto owners to contact them directly and convince them to divulge login information or surrender control of their crypto accounts,” the agency continued.
HOW TO STAY SAFE
It’s important to know that a reputable tech company will never ask you to call a phone number.
“If a pop-up or error message appears with a phone number, don’t call the number,” the FBI warned.
“Error and warning messages never include phone numbers,” the agency added.
That said, you should never give any personal information to strangers – or remote access to your device.
Never click on any untrustworthy links, and “resist the pressure to act quickly,” the FBI said.
“Criminals will urge the victim to act fast to protect their device or account,” the agency added.
You should also ensure that your devices have anti-virus, security, and malware protection.
If you ended up providing remote access to a threat actor, run security software to immediately scan and delete malware.
“Cybercriminals are constantly coming up with new ways to rip off unsuspecting consumers, and this latest tactic has resulted in staggering losses,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division.
“In some cases, we’ve seen victims lose their entire life savings which is why we are urging everyone, especially our aging family members and friends, to heed this warning,” Bonavolonta added.
Anyone who is a victim of this type of scam should report the compromise to the FBI.
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