The FBI warned at present that cybercriminals are impersonating its Web Crime Criticism Heart (IC3) web site in what the legislation enforcement company described as “attainable malicious exercise.”
Though it did not share any examples and did not level to particular assaults, the FBI stated that such spoofed web sites may very well be utilized by attackers in monetary scams or to steal the guests’ private info.
“Risk actors create spoofed web sites usually by barely altering traits of reliable web site domains, with the aim of gathering personally identifiable info entered by a person into the positioning, together with title, house deal with, telephone quantity, e mail deal with, and banking info,” the FBI stated.
“For instance, spoofed web site domains could characteristic alternate spellings of phrases or use another top-level area to impersonate a reliable web site.”
Whereas the FBI did not hyperlink to any domains spoofing the Crime Criticism Heart web site, BleepingComputer has discovered a number of examples hosted at icc3[.]stay, practicinglawyer[.]web, and ic3a[.]com.
Mockingly, the primary additionally reveals a warning discover that is at the moment displayed on the reliable IC3 website, warning of scammers impersonating FBI IC3 staff to ‘assist’ get better misplaced funds.
This alert was a part of a public service announcement issued by the FBI in April, which was prompted by over 100 experiences acquired between December 2023 and February 2025 of fraudsters utilizing this tactic.
To defend your self from comparable rip-off makes an attempt, the FBI recommends at all times getting into www.ic3.gov in your internet browser’s deal with bar as an alternative of utilizing a search engine and avoiding clicking on sponsored search outcomes, as they’re usually paid by scammers attempting to redirect visitors to their very own phishing pages from reliable websites.
Moreover, by no means share your private info with people met on-line or over the telephone, and by no means ship them cash, cryptocurrency, reward playing cards, or different monetary belongings.
The FBI added that IC3 or FBI staff won’t ever contact victims immediately through telephone, e mail, social media, cell apps, or public boards, and can by no means ask for fee to get better stolen funds or refer victims to corporations that require fee for fund restoration.
In April, the Spanish Nationwide Police arrested six suspects who contacted the victims of their cryptocurrency funding rip-off, posing as Europol brokers or U.Ok. legal professionals and asking them to pay native tax prices to get better their misplaced funds.
Two years in the past, the FBI additionally warned that scammers impersonating authorities or legislation enforcement officers have been utilizing pretend credentials and spoofing genuine telephone numbers to extort cash from potential victims or steal personally identifiable info.
46% of environments had passwords cracked, practically doubling from 25% final 12 months.
Get the Picus Blue Report 2025 now for a complete take a look at extra findings on prevention, detection, and information exfiltration developments.
