Gold scam – FBI warns tech support criminals now sending couriers to your home in brazen attempt
The FBI has warned that tech support scammers are becoming increasingly brazen and are now even sending couriers to victims’ homes to collect the cash and various precious metals.
In his alertthe FBI says the scammers primarily target the elderly and other technologically inexperienced people, sometimes impersonating a bank, sometimes a large IT company, sometimes the US government, and sometimes all of the above (in a multi-layered attack).
Victims would be told that their financial accounts had been targeted or already compromised, and that their money was no longer safe. To protect their money, victims were tricked into liquidating everything and either withdrawing the money or acquiring precious metals such as gold or silver.
Millions of dollars in damage
The attackers would convince the victims that they can keep their belongings safe, and if the victims agree, the attackers would send a courier to pick up the belongings. They would even instruct their victims to authenticate the transaction with the courier using a passcode, such as the serial number of a U.S. dollar bill, the FBI added.
Obviously, this would be the last time the victims would ever see their money or their gold.
While you might think the scam is obvious and that most people would never fall for the ruse, the campaign appears to be quite successful. The FBI says the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) saw an increase in this activity from May to December 2023 with total losses exceeding $55 million.
Protection against these attacks means that you don’t take action blindly. The US government and other legitimate businesses will never ask citizens to buy gold or precious metals. Also, all consumers must keep their information, especially their home addresses, private.