The Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, has issued a warning to the public concerning a new scam embarked on by some fraudulent people which involves the perpetrators impersonating its agents and phone numbers.
The FBI has revealed that the fraudulent caller use technology to “spoof” the phone number from an actual FBI field office, causing some of their unsuspecting victims to believe the inbound call is coming from federal law enforcement.
The agency went on to state that the scammers have mimicked telephone numbers belonging to FBI field offices in California, Montana, Colorado, Texas, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.
Once they get in touch with their targeted victim, the scammers tell them they have a warrant of arrest for them which will only be dropped in exchange for some money.
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FBI stated that;
– Their Social Security number has been compromised and linked to money laundering.
– Their Social Security number has been used to open bank accounts and that the government would seize those accounts.
– To protect their money, funds should be transferred to accounts specifically set up by the government, which would be protected until the situation is resolved, at which point the money would then be returned.
– Failure to transfer money could lead to loss of funds and possible arrest.
According to Federal Trade Commission data, complaints about scams in which callers pretend to be from the government have reached an all-time high. Americans have forfeited at least $450 million this way to government impostor scams since 2014, the FTC said.
In announcing the latest scam involving scammers pretending to be from the FBI, the agency says federal law enforcement officers do not call private citizens to request money or threaten arrest.
