The "Phantom Hacker" — three callers, one script

This scam arrives in three acts, and each act *confirms* the one before.

Act 1: "tech support" calls, or a pop-up appears. They get access to your computer and "discover" that a foreign hacker is inside your accounts. Act 2: your "bank's fraud team" calls — and they already know about the hacker. Of course they do: it's the same gang. Your money, they say, must be moved to safety. Act 3: a "government official" calls to make it all official, sometimes with convincing letterhead.

Because three separate "institutions" agree, it feels checked and double-checked. Police in several countries report losses of over a billion dollars to this script since 2024, most of it from people over 60.

What to do: one rule beats all three acts — hang up, and call Sparkasse yourself on the number on your card. There is no such thing as a safe account, and real banks and governments never team up by phone to move your savings.