FBI WARNS SCAMMERS ARE IMPERSONATING IC3 TO REVIC­TIMIZE FRAUD VICTIMS USING DEEPFAKES AND SPOOFED WEBSITES

WASHINGTON — The FBI is warning that criminals are impersonating personnel from the Internet Crime Complaint Center to target people who have already lost money through fraud, using artificial-intelligence-generated videos, fake social-media profiles, malicious links, and fraudulent government websites.

The updated warning, issued July 20 under Alert Number I-072026-PSA, concerns an ongoing recovery-fraud operation designed to convince previous scam victims that the FBI or IC3 has recovered their money or can help retrieve it.

The offer is fraudulent. The criminals use the promise of recovering stolen money to obtain additional payments, financial records, login credentials, personally identifiable information, or access to the victim’s devices.

These operations are commonly known as recovery, retargeting, or double-dip scams because they target people who have already suffered a financial loss. Criminals may obtain information about previous victims through stolen databases, online communications, earlier fraudulent transactions, social-media activity, or records shared among criminal networks.

The scammers then approach those individuals while posing as FBI agents, IC3 representatives, law-enforcement officers, financial institutions, cybersecurity specialists, attorneys, or asset-recovery companies. Their knowledge of the original fraud can make the second approach appear credible.

The FBI said scammers initiate contact through telephone calls, emails, social-media advertisements, online forums, messaging applications, and fraudulent profiles. Nearly all reported variations involve claims that money has already been recovered or that investigators can retrieve it for the victim.

In one documented scheme, a person who realized they were being defrauded told the scammers that an FBI report would be filed through IC3. The victim was later contacted through Facebook Messenger by someone impersonating an FBI agent.

The impersonator moved communications between Facebook Messenger and Telegram before sending a link that allegedly allowed the victim to update an existing IC3 complaint. The FBI warned that such links can contain malicious code or direct users to pages designed to collect additional financial and personal information.

The contact is intended to create the impression that the original complaint has reached a federal investigator. The scammer can then request payments, banking information, cryptocurrency details, identification documents, passwords, or remote access under the false claim that the information is required to recover the stolen funds.

A second version of the scheme uses AI-generated videos depicting senior FBI personnel. The fabricated videos direct viewers toward websites built to imitate the official IC3 complaint portal.

The spoofed sites can copy the appearance, wording, colors, seals, and layout of a government website while sending submitted information directly to criminals. The imitation identified by the FBI allowed users to interact with a complaint form, but additional links returned visitors to the homepage instead of opening functioning government resources.

The fraudulent form also differed from the legitimate IC3 reporting process. It presented a single submission step requesting a name, telephone number, email address, scam category, and estimated financial loss. After receiving the information, the site generated a reference number and claimed someone would contact the user.

That sequence is designed to make the submission appear official while giving criminals enough information to prepare a more personalized second-stage attack.

The FBI warned that scammers are also using synthetic video and voice technology during real-time conversations. Criminals can fabricate an apparent video call with a company executive, government official, law-enforcement officer, or other authority figure to convince a target that the contact is genuine.

AI-generated recordings may also be sent privately as supposed proof that the person communicating through email, text, or an encrypted messaging application is real. Caller-identification spoofing can add another layer of deception by displaying a government agency’s name or telephone number on the recipient’s device.

IC3 does not maintain a social-media presence. Any Facebook, Telegram, or other social-media account claiming to represent IC3 is fraudulent.

IC3 also does not investigate crimes or recover funds through social-media services, messaging applications, online chats, public forums, telephone calls, or email. If additional information is required after a complaint is filed, an FBI employee from a local field office or another law-enforcement officer may contact the complainant.

IC3 will never demand payment to recover stolen funds and will not refer a complainant to a company that requires payment for recovery services. Requests for money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, or other assets should be treated as serious warning signs.

The FBI advises people to reach the official complaint portal by manually typing www.ic3.gov into the browser’s address bar. Users should confirm that the address is spelled correctly and ends in .gov.

Search-engine advertisements and sponsored results can direct users toward paid imitation sites. Typing the address directly reduces the risk of entering personal information into a fraudulent page.

Users should avoid links with altered spelling, additional words, unfamiliar domain endings, unnecessary characters, or addresses that differ from www.ic3.gov. Poor-quality graphics, inactive navigation links, unusual formatting, and a complaint form that requests only a few pieces of information can also indicate a fraudulent site.

The FBI cautioned that visible flaws are not always present. Modern spoofed websites and AI-generated videos can appear highly convincing, requiring users to verify the address and communication channel instead of relying solely on appearance.

Potential signs of manipulated video include distorted hands or feet, irregular facial features, unnatural movement, inaccurate shadows, inconsistent glasses or jewelry, visual watermarks, audio delays, and speech that does not properly match mouth movements.

AI-generated voices can closely resemble a real person. Differences in tone, vocabulary, speaking rhythm, or word choice may provide clues, but voice quality alone should not be treated as proof of authenticity.

Messages designed to provoke fear, urgency, anger, or disbelief should be approached cautiously. Criminals use emotional pressure to prevent targets from pausing long enough to verify the identity of the person or agency contacting them.

Anyone receiving an unexpected communication from a supposed FBI or IC3 representative should avoid using the telephone number, email address, link, or account supplied in the message. Verification should occur through independently located official contact information.

People who encounter a fake IC3 account should report the profile to the platform’s security or support division. They should preserve screenshots, profile names, telephone numbers, email addresses, web addresses, transaction records, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, and copies of the communications.

Victims can report the scheme directly at www.ic3.gov. Reports should include identifying information used by the scammer, the methods of communication, fraudulent websites or profiles, payment instructions, transaction dates, amounts, receiving accounts, financial institutions, and cryptocurrency addresses.

The complaint should also explain how the contact began, what the scammer promised, what information was requested or provided, and whether any links, files, applications, or remote-access tools were used.

Individuals aged 60 or older who need help submitting an IC3 complaint can contact the Department of Justice Elder Justice Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 or 833-372-8311.

The FBI’s warning establishes a central rule for anyone contacted about recovering money lost through fraud: IC3 does not charge fees, operate social-media accounts, or use private messaging platforms to recover funds. Any person claiming otherwise is impersonating the federal complaint center and attempting to exploit the victim again.

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