The enforcement arm of the Federal Communications Commission is warning borrowers of a sophisticated mortgage-related scam that has thus far resulted in fraudsters stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting homeowners.
The scam is being run by a group dubbed Green Mirage. Its campaigns target homeowners who have previously sought relief from their mortgage lender and are expecting to be contacted, the agency wrote in a memo published Jan. 15.
Nefarious actors based in the U.S. and India are spoofing caller ID numbers to impersonate homeowners’ lending institutions. They also possess details such as the homeowner’s name and address, which helps establish legitimacy and gain the borrower’s trust, the FCC warned. The callers, often using names like “Robin,” “Alan,” or “Michael,” threaten foreclosure but then offer relief if homeowners make specific payments.
Members of the organization recommend making payments via mailing money orders or uploading funds to Walmart Green Dot Money Card accounts, per the FCC. Unbeknownst to the borrower, said payments go directly to Green Mirage and not the homeowner’s lender.
Thus far, Green Mirage has impersonated over 400 mortgage lenders and loss estimates exceed $400,000 aggregated over the last two years, the government entity said.
Borrowers often do not learn of the fraud until their actual lender initiates foreclosure proceedings, the agency said.
Imposter schemes conducted over the phone are widespread, as FCC data shows nearly 1 million reports of such scams in 2023, resulting in losses totaling $2.7 billion.
Older consumers remain disproportionately targeted, with adults age 60 and older reporting losses from business imposter fraud that were 16% higher than those of younger adults in 2022. The total reported loss that year was $271 million, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
In disclosing the scam, the FCC hopes to “ensure that these threat actors are readily detected and blocked from perpetuating potentially unlawful schemes,” it said.
