FBI: Cybercriminals stole $262M by impersonating bank support teams

The FBI/IC3 warns of a large-scale increase in account takeover (ATO) fraud since January 2025, reporting over 5,100 complaints and approximately $262 million stolen; attackers use social engineering, phishing websites (including SEO-poisoned results), and impersonation of banks or law enforcement to obtain credentials and MFA/OTP codes, then move funds to cryptocurrency wallets, making recovery difficult. The bulletin outlines common tactics, victims' experiences, and recommended mitigations such as unique passwords, MFA, bookmarking bank sites, contacting financial institutions immediately, and filing complaints with IC3.