ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Scammers use sophisticated tactics to impersonate legitimate organizations like mortgage companies and trick victims into transferring large sums of money. These scammers have personal information, including mortgage balances and lender details, which makes their schemes appear credible.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has identified the threat actors behind the call-out campaign, nicknamed “Green Mirage.”
Green Mirage employees call a homeowner and pose as their mortgage lender. Sometimes the homeowner has previously requested relief from their actual mortgage lender and can expect to be contacted. Callers often know information about the homeowner's name, address, and current or previous mortgage lender.
Callers also spoof the caller ID number of the homeowner's actual mortgage lending company, further convincing the homeowner of the legitimacy of the call.
The callers often threaten foreclosure but then offer relief if the homeowner makes certain payments that are actually directed at Green Mirage agents and not the homeowner's lender. The callers convince the homeowner that they need to pay in a way other than the usual mortgage payment method.
The callers typically request payment from the homeowner by sending money orders to outside “attorneys” and agents or by uploading funds to a Walmart Green Dot Money Card account.
The FCC said Green Mirage impersonated more than 400 mortgage lenders and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses to defrauded homeowners. Many victims only learned of the fraud when their actual lender began foreclosure proceedings.
Instead of demanding payments through apps like Zelle, this group requests that payment instructions be sent to a supposed “third-party attorney.”
Reported losses are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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