Falling victim to a scam is terrible, but being targeted a second time by fraudsters posing as law enforcement promising to help you recover is even worse.
Scammers pretending to be from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) have been reported more than 100 times between December 2023 and February 2025, according to an April 18 public service announcement .
Impersonation scams aren’t new—a widespread scheme in 2022 saw scammers posing as government and law enforcement officials, for example—but this latest one doubles up on people whose money has already been stolen.
How the IC3 scam works
As the FBI’s notice describes, scammers may contact fraud victims by phone, email, social media, or forum posts posing as IC3 employees. They offer to help targets recover their lost money—or claim they’ve already recovered it—and ask for payment or personal information, at which point victims lose money and/or data to yet another bad actor.
While there are a number of variations, in one example, scammers created female profiles on social networks, joined groups for financial fraud victims, and suggested members reach out via Telegram to “Jaime Quin,” the “Chief Director” of IC3, who completed the scam.
How to protect yourself from the IC3 scam
If you’ve been a victim of fraud or identity theft, you are a potential target for the IC3 scam, and you should stay vigilant and skeptical of anyone offering to help you get your money back. IC3 employees will never contact you via phone, email, social media, apps, or forums, and they will never ask for payment (or refer you to anyone who requires payment) to recover your money.
If you are contacted by someone claiming to be law enforcement or a government official over the phone or online, do not share any sensitive information, and do not send money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency to someone you do not know.
You can report fraud to the actual, legitimate IC3 at www.ic3.gov .
