There is no shortage, thank the heavens, of warnings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation when it comes to cybercrime. I say thankfully because these alerts always include actionable advice from the FBI to help members of the public avoid becoming the next victim. Whether it’s dangerous and sophisticated ransomware attacks, using a time travel hacking technique in the case of Medusa, or the AI threat that requires people to hang up their smartphones and use a secret code, you can trust the FBI to have your back. But what if the attack is coming from the FBI itself? At least that’s what this new threat wants you to think, and there have been enough victims for the FBI to now issue advice on how to avoid falling into the IC3 scam trap. Here’s what you need to know.
Beware These FBI Calls, Emails And Social Media Contacts
If you have been the victim of a cybercrime, you will always be advised to contact law enforcement to report it. This varies from country to country, but in the U.S., the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center is the hub where all such reports should start. Better known as the IC3, it has now found itself at the center of a new attack campaign that targets victims of fraud who have already lost money to despicable scammers. In a new twist, these scammers are now coming back for a second bite of the payload cherry and looking to scam those same people again, all under the guise of helping them get their money back. Talk about the low of the low, what utter scumbags.
An April 18 FBI alert, I-041825-PSA, has warned that the ongoing fraud scheme leverages the trust and authority of the IC3 in order to further defraud victims. In just three months, the FBI said it has received more than 100 reports of this particular attack.
Like so many phishing attacks, it all starts with a phone call, an email, or even a message on a social media platform. The fraudsters claim either to have recovered lost funds from a previous scam or to offer assistance to reclaim them. The FBI warned that in one recent case, female persona profiles were created on social media platforms and joined to groups where victims of such crimes talk. This persona then claimed to also be a victim, before messaging male victims in the group with details of how IC3 can help recover funds. Beware that this was just one such tactic, and the FBI has warned that directly impersonating IC3 employees is also used in these attacks.
“These attacks will only become more sophisticated and personal as time goes on,” Randolph Barr, chief information security officer at
Cequence, said, “and hackers use previously breached data to make their scams even more believable.”
FBI Says Do These 4 Things To Protect Yourself From IC3 Scammers
The FBI has offered four pieces of advice that everyone should follow to mitigate the risk of falling victim to these despicable scams.
- IC3 will never directly communicate with individuals via phone, email, social media, phone apps, or public forums, the FBI said, instead they will be contacted by FBI employees from local field offices or other law enforcement officers.
- Beware that the scammers will change aliases and tactics in order to evade detection, but the overall scam remains the same.
- Don’t share any sensitive information with people you have just met online or have called you on the phone. Do not send these people money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.
- The FBI IC3 will never ask for payment to recover lost funds, nor will they refer a victim to a company requesting payment for recovering funds.
The FBI requests victims immediately report fraudulent or suspicious activity to the FBI IC3 at www.ic3.gov.
