To protect yourself from the scam, the FBI again reminds people to never give away login information and passwords over the phone. — Reuters
Gmail users are being asked to secure their accounts and remain vigilant as a series of highly sophisticated AI-driven scams appear to be targeting users of the popular email program. According to Forbes, the FBI has responded to the attacks and is reminding users not to take unsolicited calls from people claiming to represent customer support.
“Legitimate customer, security, or tech support companies will not initiate unsolicited contact with individuals,” reads a 2022 warning from the FBI.
The latest attack appears to use AI technology to impersonate a real person. That “person” calls the target claiming to represent Google and warns the target that someone may have tried to access their account overseas. The scheme uses a caller ID feature that makes it appear as if the call is actually coming from Google.
An email arrives shortly thereafter that also appears to come from Google warning of the issue and urges the target to use a code in the email to recover their account. By trying to recover the account, the target could then allow the hacker access to the account.
The same scams can be used to target people for access to bank accounts, cryptocurrency wallets and more.
To protect yourself from the scam, the FBI again reminds people to never give away login information and passwords over the phone. If you receive a call and are concerned that it might not be real, but still want confirm there is no problem, you should hang up and contact the company at its posted customer service phone number.
Gmail users can also enable advanced protection features with their accounts that use passkeys and smart keys to secure your account even if a hacker were to steal your login information and password. – mlive.com/Tribune News Service
