Criminals may be exploiting a February FBI announcement in which the agency said it would reach out to victims of crypto scams. Real agents won’t ask you for money, though.<\/b>
\nIf you\u2019ve been a victim of fraud, be wary of emails or phone calls claiming to come from the FBI. They may be another scam.
The agency today warned that fraudsters are impersonating employees from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and „revictimizing“ people who’ve already been defrauded. „Between December 2023 and February 2025, the FBI received more than 100 reports of IC3 impersonation scams“, it says.
Fraudsters have long impersonated federal or government officials. But this recent campaign may have gained even more potency after the FBI said it had been reaching out to thousands of people who\u2019ve fallen for cryptocurrency scams.
On Friday, the FBI noted that the \u201cscammers claimed to have recovered the victim’s lost funds or offered to assist in recovering funds,\u201d making the offer hard to resist. In addition, the culprits are using social media to reach out to potential targets, including users in groups dedicated to helping financial fraud victims.
\u201cScammers then recommend actual victims reach out to [a] male persona, \u2018Jaime Quin\u2019 (Quin), the alleged \u2018Chief Director\u2019 of IC3, via Telegram,\u201d the FBI says. \u201cOnce contacted, \u2018Quin\u2019 claims to have recovered the lost funds, but uses this as a ruse to gain access to their financial information and revictimize them.\u201d Recommended by Our Editors
Users on social media have been warning about the \u201cJaime Quin\u201d persona for the past year. In one case, Quin claimed he could recover a victim’s lost money, but only if $5,000 was first placed into a „trust app.“
The FBI notes that the IC3 \u201cwill never directly communicate with individuals via phone, email, social media, phone apps, or public forums.\u201d
\u201cIf further information is needed, individuals will be contacted by FBI employees from local field offices or other law enforcement officers,\u201d the agency says. \u201cThe IC3 will not ask for payment to recover lost funds, nor will they refer a victim to a company requesting payment for recovering funds.\u201d
Users should also avoid sharing any sensitive information with people they\u2019ve just met online or over the phone. If a real FBI agent calls, it’s „doing so to get you to stop giving money“, the agency noted in February. „We want you to take a beat, to slow down, to not give more money to anyone you don\u2019t know.\u201d
To report fraud, victims can still file a complaint on the IC3’s official website or call 1-833-FRAUD-11 (or 833-372-8311).<\/p>\n