The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a warning about a deceptive and fraudulent calling campaign targeting homeowners across the country.
The agency identified the source of the fraud as a calling campaign dubbed “Green Mirage,” which has been classified as a Consumer Communications Information Services Threat (C-CIST). According to the FCC, Green Mirage operatives call a homeowner pretending to be the mortgage provider and frequently threaten foreclosure but then offer relief if the homeowner makes specified payments that are directed to Green Mirage. The callers persuade the homeowner that they need to pay in a manner different from their usual mortgage payment method, often by mailing money orders to a third-party attorney or uploading funds to a Walmart Green Dot Money Card account.
To date, Green Mirage has impersonated over 400 mortgage institutions and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of losses to deceived homeowners. Many victims only learned of the fraud when their actual lender-initiated foreclosure proceedings.
The FCC also issued a Public Notice to notify domestic and international law enforcement partners and industry stakeholders that it has classified Green Mirage as a C-CIST.
“Green Mirage uses sophisticated social engineering techniques to take advantage of vulnerable homeowners experiencing financial hardship,” said Acting Enforcement Bureau Chief Peter S. Hyun. “But these threat actors have not evaded detection. This C-CIST designation shines a light on these threat actors’ deceptive tactics, providing consumers with information to identify suspicious activity and providing industry with information to fortify their networks. We will not stop investigating and exposing such schemes – along with other federal, state, and international partners – to protect the integrity of our communications networks.”
