Experts are reportedly warning Americans that there is an increase in “devastating” artificial intelligence (AI) scams targeting seniors.
Speaking to cybersecurity company Checkpoint, Fox News reports that bad actors are targeting the lives of older people using a three-stage scheme known as the Phantom Hacker scam, in which three different individuals are successful.
The first step involves a technical support worker who contacts the victim and forces them to download software that provides remote access to the computer. The bad actor then asks the victim to develop a financial account to determine whether a fraud charge has occurred.
The second phase involves transferring the target account to a fake fraud department, notifying the victim that it has been hacked by a foreign agent and that the funds need to be moved to a secure third-party account.
The third phase includes fake government workers who contact the victim, telling them to move their funds to their “alias” accounts for safety. However, the funds will then be transferred to the bad actor’s account.
Pete Nicoletti, Chief Information Officer at Check Point, told Fox News that scammers use AI to identify and contact potential victims based on web activity.
“Seniors post things on Facebook like Corvette collectors. Criminals actually use artificial intelligence to search for such types of traits and profiles. And now, “We have Corvettes that we ordered a month ago are available.
And of course, the senior said, “Well, I’m a Corvette collector. Maybe I’m forgotten and didn’t know I ordered that Corvette.”
According to Nicoletti, if the victim reports funds that were stolen on the same day, there is a small chance that they will recover. Otherwise, delayed reporting theft to authorities means that the money will likely be gone forever.
Generated Image: Midjourney
Discover more from Earlybirds Invest
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
