Last Updated: July 2024 (Austin, Texas/ Boca Raton, FL )
Central Florida Retirees Tricked Into Believing Identities Were Stolen Lose Retirement Savings
We are investigating the theft of nearly half a million dollars in retirement savings from a retired couple from central Florida who are victims of fraudulent scheme.
If you are also a victim of this fraud or if you have information related to this scheme, we would appreciate hearing from you.
The Scheme (aka “Phantom Hacker“)
The victims, Mr. & Mrs. John Doe (they wish to remain anonymous) are in their mid-70s and were enjoying retirement in central Florida. In the Spring of 2024 Mr. Doe received a virus warning when logging into his computer. He immediately logged off and rebooted only to have the warning pop up again. Believing the warning to be legitimate he called the number on the warning and the call was answered by an individual who claimed to be an Apple technician.
The ’technician’ identified himself as Jacob Robertson of Apple Security who offered to prepare a report of breaches on Mr. Doe’s Mac Book. The report indicated serious issues including mobile banking Trojans and virus infections.
Two days later Mr. Doe received a call from an individual who identified himself as Alamdar Hamdani from the Department of Justice who explained that he was investigating cases of identity theft and that he was working with Apple and Bank of America. He told Mr. Doe that their retirement assets at Fidelity Investments were at risk, as a result of the theft of their identities.
Mr. Doe researched the name “Alamdar Hamdani” on the internet and saw that the authentic Alamdar Hamdani is the 24th U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. He did not suspect at the time that the caller was actually an imposter.
Believing that they were in communication with the Department of Justice and terrified that their life savings were in jeopardy they felt they must follow the instructions of the man posing as Alamdar Hamdani.
Later that day the Hamdani imposter outlined a plan to protect their assets. They were to liquidate their retirement accounts at Fidelity, transfer the money to their Bank of America account and use it purchase gold bars which would then be transferred supposedly, to the Department of Justice for safe keeping. They were instructed to make withdrawals of less than $100,000 from Fidelity and given a cover story, should they be questioned about the substantial withdrawals from their IRA accounts. Should questions arise they were told to respond by saying they were purchasing a new house that was listed for sale just down the street in their Central Florida neighborhood. The fraudsters supplied them with a listing of the house , further adding to the scammer’s creditability.
Confidentiality was crucial according to the man posing as “Hamdani” and they were told they should not discuss the matter with anyone.
After making the withdrawals from their IRA’s and taking delivery of the gold bars they were told to repackage the gold bars and address them to the Department of Justice who would send a courier to pick them up from the Doe’s for safekeeping at the U.S. Treasury. Once the identity theft was cleared up, which included the issuance of new social security numbers according to the scammer, the bars would be liquidated and retirement accounts reestablished.
Ultimately, over a few month period, Mr. & Mrs. Doe purchased nearly $500,000 worth of gold bars from companies suggested by the imposter that sell gold bullion. Each time the bars were picked up by one of the fraudsters.
Their retirement accounts were drawn down nearly to zero.
The FBI Arrives
Since withdrawals from their IRA’s were restricted to one every few weeks, it took several months for the fraudsters to drain the Doe’s accounts. In early summer 2024, just as the Doe’ were preparing to make one last purchase with their remaining retirement funds, they received a visit from agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI agents explained to them that, unfortunately, they were victims of a scam. Apparently the law enforcement had caught one of the participants in the scam and thereafter learned the identity of the victims.
In mid summer 2024 the Doe’s received a letter from the Department of Justice advising them that they were victims in a criminal case against Moinuddin Mohammed who was indicted in Austin, TX, on charges of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering and Making False Statements. The letter acknowledges that Mohammed and other co-conspirators often claimed to be U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hadani.
The Scammers Were Expert Relationship Builders
Over the course of the several months the imposters were deceiving Mr. & Mrs. Doe various other participants in the fraud were in communication with them. These other individuals all played a role in perpetuating the myth about the theft of their identities and the “plan” for protecting the retirement funds. The imposter names, purported position and phone numbers utilized in the fraud are:
| Jacob Robertson | Apple Security Center | Cybersecurity Expert | 315-969-6606 |
| Robert Kim | Apple Corp. | Security Analyst | 315-969-6606 |
| Erin Murray | Bank of America | Security Analyst | 202-858-7074 |
| Alamdar Hamdani | Department of Justice | U.S. Attorney | 202-649-0398 |
| Trina Higgins | Department of Justice | U.S. Attorney | 202-649-0398 |
With the exception of Alamdar Hamdani (who actually is a U.S. Attorney), we do not know if the other identities utilized by the fraudsters are real individuals or fake names created to perpetuate the scam.
Department of Justice / FBI Warnings
In September 2023 the DOJ/FBI published a Public Service Announcement about the Phantom Hacker scam. Assuming the scammers utilized the methodology described in this announcement, they likely learned details about Mr. & Mrs. Doe’s finances when performing the bogus virus scan of their computer.
Beware: These fraudsters apparently gained access to personal information by getting permission to access the hard drive of the victim’s computer. Unless you are 100% certain of the identity of the individuals you should never allow anyone to install software that permits them to control your computer remotely.
According to the DOJ/FBI announcement it’s estimated that over $542 million in losses was suffered by victims of this type of scam between January and June 2023.
Unfortunately for Mr. & Mrs. Doe did not have the benefit of seeing this warning and they were not aware of the existence of this scheme until it was too late.
Are You a Victim of the Phantom Hacker Scheme?
Other victims are located in Texas and Florida and perhaps elsewhere across the country.
If you are a victim of this fraud, we would like to hear from you. The more information we are able to gather about those involved, the more likely it is that we will be able to help Mr. & Mrs. Doe recover some or all of their lost nest egg.
How Rex Securities Law Can Help Victims of Fraudulent Scams Like the Phantom Hacker Scam
With offices in Boca Raton, FL and Austin, TX, stockbroker fraud attorney Rex Securities Law provides representation to investors nationwide who are seeking recovery of investment losses due to the negligence or fraud of stockbrokers, financial advisors and broker dealers.
If you have questions about how your account has been handled, call (877) 224-3199 to speak with an experienced securities attorney at no cost to you.
Most cases are handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.
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