Tech Support Scammers Use Couriers to Collect Victim Payments, the FBI Warns

Con artists have found a way to weaponize courier services to defraud their victims of their money and valuables, the FBI has announced.

After convincing their target that they’re in trouble, scammers arrange a meeting with a courier, instructing the victim, often a senior citizen, to pay a certain sum or hand over valuable objects in their possession.

Courier Weaponization Becoming More Frequent

The FBI published the announcement after this malicious campaign spurred an influx of reports. Aside from cash, victims are also instructed to convert their funds to gold, silver or other precious metals and hand them to the courier.

“Scammers pose as tech support or US government officials. Scammers sometimes use a multi-layered approach, posing, in succession, as a technology company, a financial institution, and a US government official (e.g., the "Phantom Hacker" scam),” reads the FBI’s security advisory. “Scammers inform victims their financial accounts were hacked or are at risk of being hacked, and, as a result, their funds need to be protected. Scammers instruct victims to liquidate their assets into cash and/or purchase gold, silver, or other precious metals.”

Fake Passcodes Used to Feign Legitimacy

According to the announcement, sometimes perpetrators persuade victims to transfer funds to metal dealers who will ship precious metals directly to the victim’s house.

Once their victim obtains the physical assets, con artists send a courier to their house or instruct them to meet the courier in a public place to finalize the illicit drop-off. To further the illusion of legitimacy, scammers give their victims a passcode to “authenticate the transaction.”

Under the promise of protecting the assets in a secure account on behalf of the victims, the perpetrators take the ill-gotten goods and vanish without a trace, leaving victims with significant financial losses.

Recommendations to Keep Safe

To keep safe from such scams, the FBI includes a series of recommendations and red flags to look for:

• Avoid interacting with unsolicited links, pop-ups, or attachments on your devices
• Deny unknown or suspicious individuals access to your computer
• Do not contact unknown phone numbers in texts, emails, or pop-ups
• Never disclose your home address to unknown individuals
• Protect your personal information
• Avoid downloading software or other files at the behest of unknown individuals who may have contacted you
• Keep in mind that the US Government and legitimate businesses will never have you buy gold or other precious metals

The Role of Dedicated Security Software

Dedicated software can also give you the upper hand against scammers and other online threats. Bitdefender Ultimate Security protects your devices against scam emails, phishing attempts, viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, ransomware, zero-day exploits, and other digital threats.

Keeping a close eye on your digital footprint is equally important. Threat actors can scrape leaked personal info and use it to construct elaborate social engineering campaigns. Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection monitors your online presence, including traces from no-longer-used services, notifies you if your data has been leaked as part of a breach, and lets you instantly close weak points in your digital footprint.