The FBI cautions that most individuals with smartphones are at serious risk from a new, terrible scam that has surfaced.
A new fraud involving a specific phone call and some clever computer tricks has federal authorities on edge.
Although scam calls are not new, this one is especially egregious since, according to the FBI, many Android and iPhone users may find it difficult to recognize the scammer as they approach.
This is because the scam can be quite convincing because the con artists have been able to “spoof” the caller ID number. It poses as a technical support line, a bank, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), or even your local police department.
The victims are then deceived into transferring funds from their account or setting up harmful software on their device.
Though scammers have been known to “use the names of actual deputies or police officers” and have been able to conceal their phone numbers “to make it look like they are calling from a local enforcement agency,” officials insist this scenario doesn’t occur.
Similarly, the FBI advises you to hang up and call your local law enforcement to describe the situation if you get a call from a police officer requesting money or making some other strange request.
Similar warnings have been sent by the CBP on a “spike in phone calls” from worried individuals who received calls from con artists impersonating CBP staff members “seeking information about suspected illegal activity.”
CBP said it “will not call a suspect or a victim requesting money or social security numbers’ nor make calls ‘threatening citizens that law enforcement is on the way or promising money for information.”
To give you less time to ponder, the scammer would, as is common with such attacks, make you believe the situation is urgent.
Furthermore, eliminating malware could be a daunting task, even if you are aware of its existence.
