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Inside the FBI highlights news, cases, and people from around the Bureau—in audio form. For more information, visit fbi.gov.
[The episode begins with an intense track driven by staccato-style strings.]
Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory: Frauds and scams are everywhere—from your text-message inbox and local gas pump to doctors’ offices and dating websites. But you don’t have to feel powerless against them.
On this episode of our podcast, we’ll define fraud and the different forms it can take, and explain why and how the FBI investigates this kind of illegal activity.
We’ll also discuss red flags to look out for, share tips for protecting yourself from scammers, and tell you how you can report suspected frauds and scams to the Bureau.
I’m Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory, and this is Inside the FBI.
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Oprihory: First thing’s first: What’s fraud, in the first place?
SSA Nicole Gordon: I would define fraud as a bad actor inducing someone to send money based on false pretenses.
Oprihory: That’s Supervisory Special Agent Nicole Gordon, of the FBI’s Economic Crimes Unit, or ECU.
Gordon: The Economic Crimes Unit falls under the Criminal Investigative Division at the FBI, and we oversee all financial crimes investigations, which include corporate and securities fraud, and frauds and scams.
Oprihory: According to her ECU colleague, Supervisory Special Agent Julia MacBeth, the Economic Crimes Unit has recently shifted its focus towards internet crimes, as well as ...
SSA Julia MacBeth: ...different frauds and swindles we're seeing, both internationally and domestic. Our huge shift in priorities recently stems from a major increase in complaints related to all these Internet scams that we’re seeing.
Gordon: Within the last two years, there's been a huge acceleration in cyber frauds and scams, and, so, from a Headquarters perspective, we've been surging resources to address those scams.
Oprihory: Frauds and scams can take on countless different forms, but variants that fall under the ECU’s purview include ...
Gordon: ...romance scams, investment scams, tech support, business email compromise, extortion scams...
MacBeth: ...confidence scams, grandparent scams, any type of scam that somebody is soliciting money or information and that can be used in furtherance of other crimes.
Oprihory: You can visit fbi.gov/scams to learn more about different fraud and scam types and get tailored advice for protecting yourself from them. But regardless of what kind of scam someone falls victim to, Gordon explains...
Gordon: ...the effect and the impact of these scams is devastating. People are losing their entire life savings just because they were online looking for romance or companionship.
MacBeth: Speaking to victims who have fallen for these crimes is heartbreaking.
Some of these scams that we're seeing—like crypto investment fraud scams—we're not talking a couple thousand dollars; we're talking people losing their entire life savings, liquidating their 401Ks, refinancing their houses, borrowing money from loved ones.
And this changes how they're going to live going forward. Many of them can no longer pay their bills after they've been victimized in these scams.
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Oprihory: The FBI is authorized to investigate this kind of crime because frauds and scams are typically enabled by at least one of two federal violations: wire fraud—the use of online communications to deprive a victim of money—or mail fraud, which is defined as the use of a U.S. mail service to do the same.
MacBeth: We tend to investigate these crimes from the federal level here because we're best suited to do so.
So, because we have partners all across the world that can help us investigate things and we have the reach to do so, we do our best to prioritize these types of cases.
...
Oprihory: The FBI takes unique approaches to investigating various types of frauds and scams. But, at a high level, ...
MacBeth: ...we identify our biggest threats and use those to prioritize our investigations.
We review tips and complaints and identify new subjects to help enhance ongoing investigations, we conduct logical investigations by following money, tracing cryptos—
Oprihory: —that’s short for cryptocurrencies—
MacBeth: ... finding ways to attribute these crimes to overseas threat actors. Sometimes, investigations are about disruption efforts, seizing assets, and sometimes it's about seeking criminal charges.
Oprihory: According to Gordon, the Bureau works to pair up tips and referrals from the public...
Gordon: ...with information we may have already received from different financial institutions. So, we'll follow the money, but we'll basically just start from step one, which is using all the information that the tipster or complainant provided.
We'll research our own databases and systems to see if we already have information related to this, and we'll just kind of follow the trail of wherever that information leads.
Oprihory: Evidence in fraud and scam investigations can run the gamut from bad actors’ email and IP addresses to usernames, social media handles, bank accounts, cryptocurrency wallet details, and more.
...
Oprihory: So, what fraud and scam trends is the Bureau witnessing in 2024?
MacBeth: Some of the top scams we're seeing this year relate to investment opportunities into cryptocurrency, tech support scams, grandparent scams, and imposter scams where people are impersonating government officials.
Oprihory: And, MacBeth adds...
MacBeth: We're seeing the use of artificial intelligence in furtherance of these crimes.
Oprihory: For instance, in one recent scam, a fraudster used AI to create a fake video news segment to deceive an older victim. The video claimed the victim’s relatives were subjects of an international investigation, and that the victim needed to send money to help bail out their family members.
Oprihory: The good news is that the FBI is also leveraging technology to stay on the cutting edge of fraud and scam investigations.
MacBeth: One thing we are doing is utilizing sophisticated cyber techniques to proactively identify victims who we believe are currently being scammed. We are making efforts to reach out via email or phone calls to thousands of victims. Already this year, we've saved American citizens hundreds of millions of dollars in funds that they were planning to continue to send overseas and invest in illegitimate cryptocurrency scams.
Gordon: The FBI may attempt to contact you via email and phone call to provide crucial information if you've been identified as a victim of a cryptocurrency scam. But remember that the FBI would never ask for money or ask you to move communications to a private messaging app or request any bank account details.
Oprihory: But this proactive effort isn’t the only way the FBI is looking to support victims of scams and frauds.
Gordon: The FBI's Victim Services Division plays a critical role in providing support and resources to victims of crime and their families. All of our field offices have personnel available to assist.
Oprihory: You can learn more about FBI victim assistance by visiting fbi.gov/victims.
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Oprihory: Tips from the public are one of our most powerful tools to stop frauds and scams.
And the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center website—or ic3.gov—is the Bureau’s clearinghouse for these tips. In 2023 alone, IC3 received more than 880,000 scam-related complaints.
Sharing fraud and scam information with the FBI via ic3.gov helps the Bureau properly triage and route tips.
Gordon: After a complaint is filed with IC3, the information is reviewed by an analyst and then forwarded to law enforcement and partner agencies, as appropriate. We're on pace to exceed one million IC3 complaints this year.
The FBI is diligently working with computer scientists and other analysts to exploit data in every single tip to identify and disrupt major fraud networks.
I say this to say: If you do not hear back from us—and you may not—it does not mean that we are not using the information you provided to investigate a crime.
MacBeth: Rest assured, the FBI is looking into these complaints, and we are following through to disrupt these networks.
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Oprihory: What’s the key to a good IC3 tip?
MacBeth: I think the most important thing when reporting a crime to IC3 is to report it as quickly as possible, with as much information as possible.
Important things for us to be able to investigate include:
Cryptocurrency wallets
Email addresses
Phone numbers
Usernames
Transaction IDs
Oprihory: And if money was sent or received via wire transfer, information about the accounts used to send and receive the transfer are also important clues for FBI investigators.
Information as basic as who first reached out to you and when can also aid a potential investigation. Copies of communications between a scammer and victim can also be helpful.
Red flags that people should look out for include (but aren’t limited to):
Unsolicited contact
Text messages from numbers you don’t recognize
Social media messages or dating platform messages from unfamiliar senders; and
Requests to move a conversation from one platform to another—especially if they want you to use an encrypted messaging app
Additionally, MacBeth cautions...
MacBeth: ... there's usually a sense of urgency or high-pressure tactics used to try to get the victim to give money as soon as possible.
Gordon: And, also, there are requests for secrecy. The bad actors will sometimes require that you don't share what you're doing with your friends or family members.
Gordon: Another suggestion we have is that you limit posting any personal identifiable information on social media or on dating websites because scammers can use this information to create a convincing story.
MacBeth: I think the most important thing is to trust your gut. If something doesn't seem right, stop. Pause.
Oprihory: Likewise, never give money to a person you’ve only met online.
And, Gordon adds, if a scammer tries to engage you over the phone...
Gordon: ...don't be afraid to hang up. Take a minute. Verify the story with a family member. Do any kind of research that you can. But, generally, don't be afraid to just hang up.
MacBeth: Keep in mind, we as the FBI can't reach everybody. And we need you to educate your family members on the best ways they can stay safe and not fall victim to these scams.
Oprihory: The key is to start conversations about frauds and scams before people become their next victims.
...
Gordon: Public outreach is incredibly important to us. The FBI has conducted over 6,000 outreach efforts in the last five years, reaching millions of people.
Oprihory: Partnerships—with the public, our law enforcement partners, and industry, alike—are also powerful tools in the fight against fraud.
MacBeth: Local law enforcement is vital to help us in the mission of disrupting these scams, since they're the ones that usually have more contact with the victims and often are receiving the reporting firsthand.
Gordon: And we see partnerships with the state and local sector as being a force multiplier for investigating frauds and scams. There's really no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem, and every state and local organization brings something unique to the table. But we're all motivated by the same mission.
MacBeth: We also work directly with a lot of federal partners to help mitigate these crimes. We have task forces that have partners—both federal and local—where we work and surge our resources together to try to do our best to stop further victimization.
Gordon: One benefit of working with federal partners is that they generally have expertise in areas that we might not have, so I think it's crucial just to have the different perspectives to tackle frauds and scams.
Oprihory: Partnerships with industry also aid the FBI’s fight against fraud...
Gordon: ...because that's where the information is. For example, social media sites or dating websites, even financial institutions.
Gordon: That's where all the information we need to investigate these cases lies, so it's critical that we maintain those partnerships with those entities.
MacBeth: And by sharing information with them, we give them the power to help prevent these scams from happening in the first place, since it's often taking place on their platforms.
...
Oprihory: You can visit fbi.gov/scams to access additional scam-prevention resources.
You can also access a wealth of informational resources about frauds, scams, and other internet-based threats—and report internet-based frauds and scams—at ic3.gov. That’s the letter I, the letter C, and the number 3 .gov.
Oprihory: This has been another production of Inside the FBI. You can follow us on your favorite podcast player, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. You can also subscribe to email alerts about new episodes at fbi.gov/podcasts.
I’m Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory from the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs. Thanks for listening.
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