The Enforcement Bureau of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is notifying domestic and international law enforcement partners, industry stakeholders, and consumers of significant security threats related to an illegal spoofing operation.
According to a press release issued by the Enforcement Bureau in mid-January, the spoofing operation, “Green Mirage,” has now been classified as a Consumer Communications Information Services Threat (C-CIST). Green Mirage has reportedly perpetrated a “deceptive and fraudulent” calling campaign targeting homeowners across the entire U.S., in which callers deceptively pose as the homeowner’s mortgage provider and threaten homeowners with foreclosure unless they make specified payments.
Those who comply with the scammers’ request are then instructed to make payments in a manner different from their usual method of payment, including sending money orders to third parties or uploading payments to Walmart Green Dot Money Card accounts.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau says that the Green Mirage operation has so far impersonated over 400 mortgage institutions, resulting in the loss of at least $400,000 over the past two years by homeowners who were taken in by the scam. However, the Bureau acknowledges that many losses related to the scam have likely gone unreported and that their loss estimate is likely on the low end of the actual total lost.
The FCC’s press release on the Green Mirage threat is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-25-42A1.pdf.
The FCC’s Enforcement Advisory on Green Mirage is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-25-41A1.pdf.
And the FCC’s Green Mirage Consumer Alert is available at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-408794A1.pdf.
