200 million American targeted in new wave of phishing attacks

A simple “How are you” message can lead to an emptied bank account and identity theft.

Scammers are getting creative and are now using hacked Facebook accounts to impersonate friends and family. More than 200 million Americans are being targeted by these scammers.

According to the Daily Mail, hackers are using the stolen Facebook profiles for their fraudulent practices.

The hacker scammers often start their crime with a casual “How are you doing today" message, appearing to be from a friend or family member, but actually from a criminal who took over their account.

According to cybersecurity experts, this is by far the most sophisticated scamming gateway as it is hard to detect because the messages come from real accounts, making them hard to detect.

The victims of these phishing attacks often realize after it’s too late. The most common tactic being used are fake emails and messages to alert the target that their account is compromised.

The email then asks the target to reset password for security and provides a link to reset the password. The link usually redirects the victims to a phishing site designed to steal login credentials.

Cybersecurity advisor Claudiu Popa warned, “The scam depends on urgency, fake photos and emotional language to convince the target.”

“However, if the targeted individual questions the authenticity of claims made by scammers they usually block the user and delete all the chats to avoid being exposed,” she said.

To stay safe, the experts have recommended following steps:

• Use strong, unique passwords,
• Enable two-factor authentication
• Never click on suspicious links in messages and emails

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a statement saying, “No real government grant program charges fees to give you money,” adding that anyone claiming to be from FTC demanding money, login codes or passwords is running a scam.