Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)
The FBI Albuquerque Field Office is issuing a public warning about Government Impersonation scams.
The FBI, along with other federal, state, local, and tribal partners, is working to investigate cases in which scammers are using advanced spoofing scams to steal the public’s hard-earned money.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), there have been Nationwide reported losses of more than $33 million due to Government Impersonation scams from January through November 2024. While these scams are not new, they have become more advanced and involve networks of criminals. These schemes could be multi-layered and may last several weeks to months until victims realize they are being scammed and their financial accounts have been depleted.
Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda of the FBI Albuquerque Division said, “While the FBI does not want the public to ignore calls that appear to come from law enforcement, be aware that neither the FBI nor any other legitimate law enforcement agency will ever demand cash or gift cards from you or ask you to move your money into an account for safe keeping.”
Below describes how this scam is typically carried out:
- Scammers claim to be personnel from the FBI, IRS, U.S. Marshal Service, Secret Service, or other federal agencies or local law enforcement agencies. The scammers “spoof” or fake where they are calling from, so it appears to the victim that they are calling from a legitimate agency.
- Victims are threatened that a warrant for their arrest has been issued, that they are being implicated in a crime, that their Social Security number is suspended, or that they are simply under investigation and that they must pay a fee or fine to avoid detention.
- These scammers often demand that the victim act quickly, not get off the phone, and threaten or scare the victim into believing that they will be arrested imminently.
- Subsequently, some of these scams are much more elaborate, with multiple scammers spoofing different agencies to draw the victim into the scheme. Oftentimes the scammer will send fake documents on what appears to be U.S. Government letterhead to further legitimize the scam and involvement of multiple people.
- Scammers may also provide victims with phone numbers to call, which lead to an associate of the scammer. This person may tell the victim that they can fix the problem, but that their financial accounts have been “hacked” and the victim should move their money to a secure account number provided by the scammers.
- The victim is commonly instructed to withdraw money from their bank account and transfer via wire transfer, or deposit into a cryptocurrency kiosk or ATM, or instructed to purchase gift cards and then provide the card information to the fraud actor. Recently, scammers are requesting the victim purchase gold or other precious metals for a courier to pick up.
A variation of this scam was recently reported in New Mexico:
A victim received a call from a scammer stating that he worked with The U.S. Marshal Service (USMS) and informed the victim that his social security number had be implicated in a money laundering operation. Following the initial contact, the victim received a subsequent call from a spoofed phone number appearing to be from the local Police Department, this caller confirmed that the victim was in fact under investigation and that he should follow the instructions given by the supposed Marshal. The victim was instructed to withdraw funds from his bank account and deposit them into an ATM. At the time of this scam the ATM was out of service, so the scammer sent someone to pick up the funds from the victim’s residence.
Tips to Protect Yourself:
- Know that the U.S. Government and Law Enforcement agencies will not email you or call you unsolicited. Nor will they ever request that you wire money or cryptocurrency, send precious metals, or purchase gift cards to avoid detention or to mitigate an alleged issue with your finances or digital devices.
- Slow down before taking action. Scammers oftentimes depend on victims to make quick decisions.
- Always look up your local or federal law enforcement office’s phone number on your own and contact them directly. Do not call the number provided by the caller or allow them to transfer you.
- Never give out your personal information, including banking information, Social Security number, or other personally identifiable information over the phone to individuals you do not know.
- Do not click on unsolicited popups, links through text messages, or email links and attachments.
- Do not contact unknown numbers provided to you in these communications.
- Do not authorize unknown individuals access to your computer.
- Do not meet with unknown individuals to deliver cash or precious metals.
- Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as officials soliciting donations or demanding payment.
If you suspect you are a victim of this or any scam, immediately end communications with the subjects and contact law enforcement.
- If you feel that you are in imminent danger, call 911
- Contact your financial institution immediately upon suspecting or discovering a fraudulent transfer
- Report to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov
- Submit a complaint to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov