Wire fraud attempts have increased recently. Fraudsters are primarily using impersonation scams and posing as well-known companies or financial institutions to convince and pressure members to send their money via wire transfers or move funds to "safe" accounts. Stay vigilant and look out for the following schemes and red flags:

Impersonation schemes:

Apple support: Victims are told multiple devices are accessing their Apple account with “pending transfers,” and urge them to move funds to a "safe account" via wire.

Bank of America: Scammers tell victims their Bank of America information was found on the dark web and pressure them to provide banking info and send money to a “secure account” through a wire.

Microsoft security breach claims: Fraudsters tell victims they’re at risk of legal trouble due to fraudulent cards and accounts opened in their name. Scammers instruct them to send wires to individuals to avoid legal trouble.

Microsoft support, Amazon fraud department, “your bank,” or Norton/McAfee billing: Criminals contact the victim and claim there was an accidental charge, suspicious purchase, or unnecessary subscription renewal, and insist a refund needs to be issued. The scammer wants to “help” provide the refund and instructs the victim to install remote access tools like Zoom or TeamViewer on their computer. Once installed, the scammer can connect to the computer to control the screen, manipulate what is seen, and move money between the victim’s accounts.

The fraudster has the victim complete a fake refund form to get their name, online banking details, and faux refund amount. Then they pretend there is a system glitch, and black out the screen or cover it with a fake system loading box. Behind the scenes, the scammer uses online banking to transfer money between the victim’s accounts, such as moving funds from savings to checking, to make it appear that a refund was received.

Now the crook pretends a huge error has happened, acting panicked that the victim has received too much money for their refund. The scammer acts desperate, cries, or begs for the victim to return the extra funds so they don’t get fired or have to pay the money back from their salary. It’s all scripted and since the victim thinks they received extra money, they feel pressured to return it. Fraudsters usually ask for payment via wire transfer, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or cash through the mail.

Other red flags to watch out for:

• The wire is requested to "help a family member or friend"
• An unsolicited email, text, or phone call initiated the wire request

As always, if you think your account has been compromised, contact MSGCU immediately at (866) 674-2848 for assistance.

Category: Scam Alerts