Scam guides › Phantom hacker / "move your money" scam

Phantom hacker scam: fake tech support, fake bank, fake government

Updated October 16, 2026. By the AskBeforeYouSend editorial team (how we fact-check). Fact-checked against the official sources listed at the bottom.

Short answer: It's a three-step scam the FBI says hits older adults hardest. A fake tech support agent gets into your computer, a fake bank or brokerage "fraud department" says foreign hackers got into your accounts, and a fake government agent, often claiming to be from the Federal Reserve, tells you to move your money to a "safe" account. There is no safe account. The FBI says the U.S. government will never ask you to send money by wire to foreign accounts, crypto, or gift or prepaid cards.

Key facts

From January to June 2023, IC3 got 19,000 tech support scam complaints with losses over $542 million. Almost half the victims were over 60, and they had 66% of the losses.
The Federal Reserve says it will never contact the public by unsolicited calls or emails asking for money or personal information.
Victims often lose entire bank, savings, retirement or investment accounts (FBI).

What it looks like

This is Agent Miller with the Federal Reserve. Foreign hackers have accessed your retirement account. To protect your savings, you must wire the funds to a secure government account today. Do not tell the bank teller why.

A made-up example based on the FBI's description of phase 3.

How the scam works

Phase 1: a pop-up, call, text or email sends you to fake "tech support", who installs remote-access software and has you open your financial accounts.
Phase 2: a fake bank or brokerage worker says hackers got in and you must move your money to a "safe" third-party account.
Phase 3: a fake Federal Reserve or other government official "confirms" it, sometimes with an official-looking letter, and pushes you to keep moving money, sometimes over days or months.

Red flags

Anyone telling you to move money to protect it
A call from "the Federal Reserve"
Being told not to tell your bank, family or anyone why
A stranger asking you to open your bank accounts while they're connected to your computer
Wires, cash, crypto or gift cards as the "fix"

What to do now

Hang up. Don't let anyone who contacted you control your computer.
Call your bank or brokerage using the number on your card or statement.
Tell a family member or friend before moving any money.
If money already left, call your bank right away to try to stop the wire.
Report it to the FBI's IC3 and your local FBI field office.

Never send money, gift cards, crypto or verification codes because of a call, text or message. Hang up and call the real number.

Check a message like this

Report it

Call the number on the back of your card

Report to the FBI (IC3): Best if money was lost or it happened online. Have the scammer's name, phone, email, website and the full message ready.

Find your FBI field office: For big losses, like savings moved to a "safe account", call your local FBI field office and also file at ic3.gov.

Report to the FTC: For any scam, even if you didn't lose money. Takes about 10 minutes.

Questions

Would the Federal Reserve ever call me?

The Federal Reserve says it will never contact the public with unsolicited phone calls or emails asking for money or personal information. A call like that is a scam.

My parent already moved money. What should we do?

Call their bank right away to try to stop or recall the transfer, then report it to IC3 at ic3.gov and the local FBI field office. Include names, phone numbers and the account numbers the money went to.

Sources

Example messages are made up to show the pattern unless we say otherwise. Phone numbers in examples use the fictional 555 range.

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