This one is almost seems too ludicrous to be true, guys. But it is.
Recently, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released a Public Service Announcement about a new scam asking older folks to ship the scammers cash wrapped in magazines.
That’s right. And it is so much more convoluted and absurd than you would think – although to get someone to stuff money in a box and mail it to a stranger, I suppose it would have to be. It targets the elderly, though, and unfortunately it is a fact that the part of our brains that help discern if something is fraudulent degrade as we age, and there are plenty of garbage humans ready to take advantage of that fact. Watch out for your elders, everyone.
So how does it work?
According to the IC3:
Tech support scammers usually initiate contact with older adult victims through a phone call, text, email, or pop-up window purporting to be support from a legitimate company. The scammer informs the victim of fraudulent activity or potential refund for a subscription service. Subsequent emails, pop-ups, and texts contain a phone number for the victim to call for assistance. Once the victim calls the number, a scammer tells the victim they have a refund for the victim, however, the only way the money can be sent is by connecting to the victim’s computer and depositing it into the victim’s bank account.
But, obviously the scammer needs to help the victim set up the deposit, and talks them into setting up remote control software on their computer, and then logging into their bank account.
Now for a lot of scammers, this would be more than enough – but wait, there’s more…
The scammer then deposits the money into the account, but Oopsie! They deposited way too much.
Clearly, the only remedy for the situation, is for the victim to wrap up the excess money, in cash, hide it in a magazine, and ship it to the scammer.
And it must work, or the FBI wouldn’t be talking about it.
How do you protect yourself and your family?
The FBI offers the following suggestions, be sure to remind your elderly friends and relatives:
- Never download software at the request of an unknown individual who contacted you.
- Never allow an unknown individual who contacted you to have control of your computer.
- Do not click on unsolicited pop-ups, links sent via text messages, or email links or attachments.
- Do not contact the telephone number provided in a pop-up, text, or email.
- Never send cash via mail or shipping companies.
If something like this does happen, what do you do?
Report it to the IC3, along with the following information:
- The name of the person or company that contacted you.
- Methods of communication used, to include websites, emails, and telephone numbers.
- The address where the cash was shipped and the recipient name(s).
