MSU Extension: Hackers and Your Legacy

This is one in a series of articles focusing on estate and legacy planning. The authors are Kaleena Miller, Madison-Jefferson County Extension Agent, kaleena.miller1@montana.edu, and Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension Family Economics Specialist, marsha.goetting@montana.edu.

“The FBI is warning about “phantom hacker” scams targeting seniors nationwide and stealing their life savings,” says Kaleena Miller, Madison-Jefferson County Extension Agent. From January to June 2023 there were 19,000 tech scams reported to the FBI with more than $542 million lost during that time.

These are dollars that some seniors had planned to leave as a legacy to their family members, says Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension Family Economics Specialist. Sadly almost 50% of the victims reported to Crime Complaint Center were over 60 years old, making up 66% of the total losses.

The evolution of tech support scams, the FBI explains, can involve three phases. First, the fake tech support representative gets the victim to download malicious software that gives them remote access to the victim’s computer. “I’ve received emails from such hackers,” said Goetting, “One was threatening saying he had already taken over my computer.” The rep then warns the consumer that they are at risk of getting hacked or that they’ve already been hacked. Then a financial institution representative contacts the consumer to “help” the consumer move their money to a ”safe” third-party account, supposedly with the Federal Reserve or another U.S. government agency. Of course, the consumer’s money is not being safeguarded, it’s being stolen.

As part of the final phase of the scam, the victim may then be contacted by a third crook posing as an employee of the government institution where the “safe” account was opened. If the victim becomes suspicious of the government imposter, the scammer may send an email or letter on what appears to be official U.S. government letterhead to legitimize the scam.

To protect yourself, do not click on unsolicited pop-ups, links sent via text message, or emailed links or attachments; do not use contact phone numbers provided in a pop-up, text, or email; do not download software at the request of unknown people who contact you; and do not give control of your computer to an unknown person. The US Government will never request you send money via wire transfer to foreign accounts, cryptocurrency, or gift/prepaid cards.

If you find you are being scammed report these fraudulent or suspicious activities to one of the local FBI field offices in Helena (406-443-3617), Bozeman (406-994-0937), or Billings (406-248-8487) or go to http://www.ic3.gov. Be sure to include as much information as possible.

• The name of the person or company that contacted you.

• Methods of communication used include websites, emails, and telephone numbers.

• The bank account number(s) where the funds were wired to and the recipient’s name(s).

More information about Phantom Hacker Scams is available here https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2023/PSA230929. If you do not have access to a computer or printer, call the MSU Extension Madison-Jefferson County Office for a copy of the printed information at 406-287-3282.