Scams: Fake FBI Emails- We the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC ... you have been scammed by those scammers from nigeria."

Fake Government Agencies
FBI Scams - Fake Email from the FBI
"We the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC in conjunction with some other relevant Investigation Agencies ...  you have been scammed by those scammers from nigeria."

Have you received an email from the FBI, telling you that

"We the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC in conjunction with some other relevant Investigation Agencies like Internal Revenue Service here in the United states of America have recently been informed through our Global intelligence monitoring network that you have been scammed by those scammers from nigeria.";

then telling you

"the UNITED NATIONS are compensating the scam victim with the sum of US$1,000,000.00 each to the 12 scam victims so we will like you to send us the account number where you want your compensation fund to be transfer to or better still let us know how you want your compensation fund to come to you."?

It is a scam.  The FBI will never, never email you unless you first contact them.  They WILL NOT EVER email you to tell you you owe money or are due to receive a refund; or for any other reason. Count on it.

No government agency we know of, anywhere in the civilized world, contacts ANYONE by email first. Look at the email address to which you are to respond: it is not even a government address - it is a free email account.

If you hold your mouse over the link in the email you received, you would see that it does NOT go to FBI, but instead to a page on another website, which is clearly operating a scam and a fraud. We neutered the link in case it harbors a virus.

This is a simple AFF - scam - a some point, you will be asked to send money via Western Union (or "wore transfer") to cover fees, taxes, or whatever excuse they can think of that you might believe.

If you would like a step by step explanation of how a typical "Advance Fee Fraud" works, click here!

Sample Scam FBI Email:

December 5, 2008, and February 16, 2009, CFR received the following email:

 

--- On Fri, 12/5/08, FEDERAL BUREAU INVESTIGATION <f_investigation@live.com> wrote: From: FEDERAL BUREAU INVESTIGATION <f_investigation@live.com> Subject: RE: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION SEEKING TO WIRETAP THE INTERNET To: Date: Friday, December 5, 2008, 6:13 AM   Assistant Director in Charge Joseph Persichini, Jr FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI.WASHINGTON DC. WASHINGTON D.C ROOM,7367 J. EDGAR HOOVER FBI BUILDING 935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, DC 20535, RE: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION SEEKING TO WIRETAP THE INTERNET Hello, _______________, We the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC in conjunction with some other relevant Investigation Agencies like Internal Revenue Service here in the United states of America have recently been informed through our Global intelligence monitoring network that you have been scammed by those scammers from nigeria. We also want you to know that the UNITED NATION have been compensating the scam victims by the advance fee scam going on in africa and have maped out the sum of  US$12,000,000.00 to compensate the scam victim here on our list and your name is among the 12 scam victims here. We will like you to know that the UNITED NATIONS are compensating the scam victim with the sum of US$1,000,000.00 each to the 12 scam victims so we will like you to send us the account number where you want your compensation fund to be transfer to or better still let us know how you want your compensation fund to come to you. Your urgent response is needed.Furthermore we will like you to stop communicating with any scam emails you will be receiving this is to help us stop scam going on so get back to us with the needed information. Best Regards, Robert S. Mueller III Federal Bureau of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001, USA --

 

Review:

Clearly, this email and it's associated website is criminal activity intended to steal your money!

Recommendations:

If you receive a call from this number or any group that claims to represent a government agency, take down their information, including the contact's name, phone number, etc. Do NOT give them any personal or financial information, especially not a credit card, checking or bank account number, passport number, etc.

Next, look up the direct phone or email address for the agency they claim to represent and call them.  Read them the email and ask if it could have come from their agency.

While we don't want to encourage people to ignore correspondence from legal government agencies, it is a safe bet that NO U.S. government agency will make any first contact with you by email. Certainly not the FBI or IRS.

FBI offers this advice:

If you receive an unsolicited e-mail purporting to be from FBI, take the following steps:

• Do not open any attachments to the e-mail, in case they contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
• Contact FBI at by going to their website and looking up a contact number or email address.

And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive.  We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!

If you receive a suspicious e-mail that claims to come from:

1. Send a copy to ConsumerFraudReporting.org (via the feedback form)
2. Please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at www.ic3.gov and

Overseas

Contact the Foreign Commercial Service (FSC) at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If there is no FCS office, contact the American Citizens Services Unit of the Consular Section or the Regional Security Office.

For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.