BALTIMORE — A common scam is costing victims more money. The FBI is warning about an increase in tech support scams and how they've evolved.
Instead of taking a few hundred dollars, scam artists are cleaning out bank accounts, savings, investments, even retirement funds.
Victims report seeing a pop-up message on their computers informing them that their device has been infected with a virus and to call tech support immediately. When they do, they're told the situation is serious and urgent.
“Scammers convince them that there is a problem with their computer. And that, in fact, their financial accounts may have been compromised,” said Supervisory Special Agent Keith Custer with the FBI Baltimore Field Office.
Sometimes victims are instructed to download software giving the scammer access to their computers, then log into their bank accounts.
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“They'll kind of try and suss out, oh, how many accounts do you have? How much is in that account, so they have a feeling for how much to shoot for,” said SSA Custer.
And victims are given different reasons as to why they need to transfer or withdraw their money. In some cases, it's to secure their accounts, other scammers make it seem like they overpaid the victim and now they need to reimburse the scammer, or they're told they're involved in illegal activity and need to run their money through an FBI agent to clear their name.
“It's not unusual to see a victim walking into a gas station with $5,000 and feeding $100 bills into the Bitcoin ATM,” SSA Custer said.
And the reported losses are way up. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center 2022 annual report, more than 32,000 people fell victim to tech support scams and reported losing over $806 million. This is a 136 percent increase year-over-year.
Marylanders are also falling victim including a Churchton woman who reported losing $40,500 and another woman in Silver Spring who is out $180,000 plus a significant portion of her retirement.
“I've seen $600,000, $800,000, over a million dollars in loss, because once the victim gets it in their mind that everything they've worked for their whole life is potentially gone if they don't act immediately, they'll act immediately. And they'll send everything that they have,” SSA Custer added.
SSA Custer sees many of these crimes originate in South Asia and India making recovery more complicated. The FBI has investigators based overseas, including a person whose sole focus is tech support fraud, even so, the distance and governance can make these crimes more difficult and time consuming to pursue.
And while tech support scams are the number one fraud affecting seniors, SSA Custer warns it can happen to anyone.
“That's a common misnomer with a lot of people that victims are all suffering from dementia or they're not with it, but I'm here to tell you that a lot of the victims are sharper, older people with professional degrees, you know, lawyers, doctors, engineers. No one is immune to this,” he said.
You might come across these pop-ups if you click the wrong link in an email or ad, and it'll lock your computer. If this happens to you, try force restarting your computer, force quitting the application, and visit a tech professional in person.
Microsoft doesn't include phone numbers in error or warning messages, so don't call.
And if you did send money, call your bank right away and ask them to reverse any transactions.
And always file a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) by clicking here.
If you believe your personal information has been compromised, the Federal Trade Commission has a list of steps you can take at IdentityTheft.gov.