The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued an alert on a new phishing scheme aimed at tricking victims into making money transfers to accounts controlled by cybercriminals.
As part of these attacks, the cybercriminals target users of digital payment applications with fake text messages pretending to be from legitimate financial institutions, asking customers to verify they have started an instant money transfer. The FBI Advisory states:
Cybercriminals are targeting victims with a sophisticated phishing and social engineering scam which results in victims unwittingly sending funds to the actors using digital payment apps. The actors take advantage of payment apps connected to bank accounts.
If the recipient responds to the automated text message, the criminals – “who typically speak English without a discernable accent,” according to the FBI – call the victim from a number that appears to match the legitimate 1-800 support number for the financial institution.
For more information about this and other security threats to your customers or your organization, visit the FBI’s Cyber Crime website.