Americans Warned of Scammers Impersonating FBI Workers

The impostors claim to be FBI internet-crime unit workers who have recovered the victim’s lost funds.

An FBI agent walks toward a crime scene. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The FBI has warned Americans of scammers who are impersonating the bureau’s crime complaint unit to defraud people by falsely offering to help fraud victims recover stolen funds.

Noting that it has received more than 100 complaints over the past two years about scammers pretending to be FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) workers, the bureau said that “almost all complainants indicated the scammers claimed to have recovered the victim’s lost funds or offered to assist in recovering funds.”

“However, the claim is a ruse to revictimize those who have already lost money to scams,” the FBI said in its public service announcement on April 18.

How it works, according to the agency, is that the victims report initial contact from the scammers through emails, phone calls, or via social media and forums. In one instance, a scammer created fake social media profiles with female images and joined groups of fraud victims and tried to impersonate fellow victims, the FBI said.

“Scammers then recommend actual victims reach out to male persona, ‘Jaime Quin,’ the alleged ‘Chief Director’ of IC3, via Telegram,” the notice said. “Once contacted, Quin claims to have recovered the lost funds, but uses this as a ruse to gain access to their financial information and revictimize them.”

Fraudsters may change the names, aliases, and tactics, but the general scheme remains similar, the FBI also said.

The FBI said that its IC3 division will never directly contact an individual through phone, email, phone apps, social media, or on forums. FBI employees with field offices or other law enforcement officers will contact individuals if more information is needed about a crime, it advised, adding that IC3 officials will not ask for payment to receive lost funds.

“Do not send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets to people you do not know or have met only online or over the phone,” the FBI said, adding that people are advised not to share sensitive information with people they met online or over the phone.

Anyone who believes they were the victim of a scam or saw fraudulent, suspicious activity should report it to the IC3 through its website, according to the bureau.

Last year, the federal law enforcement agency said it observed an increase in reports of scammers claiming to be FBI agents or other government officials. In that scheme, the scammer sent individuals to pick up gold or cash payments at the victim’s home, the bureau said.

In 2022, the FBI similarly warned of a fraud scheme where scammers impersonated government officials by falsifying authentic phone numbers and by using fake credentials to steal sensitive information from victims.

“Scammers often spoof caller ID information, and these phone calls are fraudulent even if they appear to be coming from an agency’s legitimate phone number. Recipients should hang up immediately and report the call,” the FBI also said.

A 2023 FBI report found that there were more than 101,000 fraud complaints involving people age 60 and older, in which they lost an average of $33,915. That’s up from 2020, the bureau said, when the average loss from fraud and scammers stood at $9,175.