The FBI is warning Americans of several new scams designed to convince targets that the FBI is helping them, when in reality, it’s part of the scam. That’s according to a public service announcement from the FBI’s actual Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued Monday.
The warning lists three different types of scams that are designed to confuse targets and get them to trust the fake FBI agents.
“Each of the tactics give victims a false sense of safety and security, while the actors impersonate or falsely affiliate themselves with government personnel or entities,” the warning reads.
The FBI has received numerous complaints from people who say they were targeted by one of the three schemes. The agency says the scams are actually attempts to revictimize those who have already been targeted or been victimized. Almost all complainants alleged the scammers claimed to have recovered the victim’s lost funds or offered to assist in recovering funds.
Scam One
The first scam revolves around the con artists creating fraudulent persona profiles and fake pages on social media networks for FBI personnel.
“After the victim of a scam begins to realize they are being defrauded, the victim informs the scammers they will report them to the FBI and file an IC3 report. The victim is later contacted by an individual impersonating an FBI agent on Facebook Messenger (FM),” reads the warning.
“The impersonator communicates via Telegram and FM and sends a link to update the submitted IC3 report. The link may contain malicious code or may be used to collect more financial data to revictimize the person.”
Scam Two
In this hoax, scammers create AI-generated videos — known as deepfakes — and post them on social media platforms. In the video, someone is impersonating FBI personnel and promoting the FBI’s IC3 government website.
However, the link directs users to a fake website that is designed to look like the actual IC3 website. The spoofed website will only allow users to interact with the complaint submission page as all other pages return the user to the home page.
The complaint form only asks for the person’s name, phone number, email address, scam type, and estimated financial loss. After submitting the form, the target is then issued a reference number and is told that someone will be in touch with them, but it’s just part of the scam to obtain personal information.
Scam Three
The FBI is also warning of a scheme involving depictions of public figures in AI videos. The videos rely on fear, urgency, and high-tech tricks like AI-generated video and caller ID spoofing to appear legitimate, according to the FBI. The videos are made to resemble real time video chats with alleged company executives, law enforcement, or other authority figures.
The videos are used to “prove” to the target that they’re talking with a real person and can trust the process.
The FBI offers several tips to help people identify AI video scams and other fraudulent communications:
Carefully examine the email address, messaging contact information, including phone numbers, URLs, and spelling used in any correspondence or communications. Scammers often use slight differences to deceive you and gain your trust. For instance, actors can incorporate publicly available photographs in videos, use minor alterations in names and contact information, or use AI-generated voices to masquerade as a known contact.Look for subtle imperfections in images and videos, such as distorted hands or feet, unrealistic facial features, indistinct or irregular faces, unrealistic accessories such as glasses or jewelry, inaccurate shadows, watermarks, voice call lag time, voice matching, and unnatural movements.Listen closely to the tone and word choice to distinguish between a legitimate phone call or voice message from a known contact versus AI-generated voice cloning, as they can sound nearly identical.AI-generated content has advanced to the point that it is often difficult to identify. When in doubt about the authenticity of someone wishing to communicate with you, contact your relevant security officials or the FBI for help.Be wary of online content that elicits strong emotion – anger, fear, disbelief. Take a moment to verify that what you are seeing or hearing is true before responding. If you see a surprising video or image online, verify its authenticity through reputable news sources or known official channels.
If you or someone you know has fallen victim to this scam, file a complaint with the IC3 at www.ic3.gov.