The FBI Miami Field Office is aware of a recent increase of government impersonation scams and attempts targeting South Florida residents.
According to the FBI, callers identify themselves as a federal officer and typically instruct people to wire or mail “settlement” money or to assist law enforcement with an investigation against a bank. These calls are fraudulent, and call recipients should hang up immediately. Federal agencies do not call or email individuals threatening them to send money or to use their personal money as “bait” for a federal investigation.
There are many versions of this government impersonation scam, but they are all variations of the same tactic. This type of scam has been around for years and targets people across the nation.
“Criminals use law enforcement impersonation scams as a means of confusing and unnerving their intended victims in order to get them to act rashly,” said Supervisory Special Agent Michael Brown. “If you receive one of these calls, hang up, and report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
In the 2024 IC3 report recently released, Florida residents reported 1,579 impersonation scams with an estimated loss of over $12 million.”
In addition, a scam phone call may seem legitimate because scammers can spoof caller ID information. It may appear the call is coming from a federal agency’s legitimate phone number or from Washington, D.C., or may show the name of a federal agency.
To protect yourself from falling victim to this scam, be wary of answering phone calls from numbers you do not recognize. Do not send money to anybody that you do not personally know and trust. Never give out your personal information, including banking information.
Anyone who feels they were the victim of this, or any other online scam should report the incident immediately at ic3.gov. The FBI provides more online information about government impersonation schemes and other online fraud schemes.
Check online for the latest annual report from the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
