Fake Government Agencies
FBI Scams - Fake Email from the FBI
"We believe this notification meets you in a very good state of
mind and health. We the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC... "
Have you received a email from the FBI, telling you that
"We believe this notification meets you in a very good state of mind and health. We the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC in conjunction with Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and some other relevant Investigation Agencies here in the United States of America have recently been informed through our Global intelligence monitoring network that you presently have a transaction going on with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as regards your over-due contract payment which was fully endorsed in your favour accordingly. ";
then instructing you to
"They further informed us that we should warn our dear citizens who must have been informed of the contract payment which was awarded to them from the Central Bank of Nigeria, to be very careful prior to these irregularities so that they don't fall victim to this ugly circumstance anymore. And incase you are already dealing with anybody or office claiming to be from the Central Bank of Nigeria, you are advised to STOP further contact with them in your best interest and then contact immediately the real office of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) only with the below information accordingly: "?
It is a scam. The FBI will never, never email you unless you first
contact them. They WILL NOT EVER email you to tell you you owe money or
are due to receive a refund; or for any other reason. Count on it.
No government agency we know of, anywhere in the civilized world, contacts
ANYONE by email first. Look at the email address to which you are to respond: it
is not even a government address - it is a free email account. And we doubt the
FBI would write "We believe this notification meets you in a very good state of
mind and health. "
If you hold your mouse over the link in the email you received, you would see that it does
NOT go to FBI, but instead to a page on another website, which is
clearly operating a scam and a fraud. We neutered the link in case it harbors a
virus.
This is a simple AFF - scam - a some point, you will be asked to send money
via Western Union (or "wore transfer") to cover fees, taxes, or whatever excuse
they can think of that you might believe.
If you
would like a step by step
explanation of how a typical "Advance Fee Fraud" works, click here!
Sample Scam FBI Email:
April 6, 2009, CFR received the following email:
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI.WASHINGTON DC.
WASHINGTON D.C ROOM, 7367
J. EDGAR HOOVER FBI BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,
NW WASHINGTON, DC 20535,
RE: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION SEEKING TO
WIRETAP THE INTERNET
We believe this notification meets you in a very
good state of mind and health.
We the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI)
Washington, DC in conjunction with Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3),
National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
and some other relevant Investigation Agencies here in the United States of
America have recently been informed through our Global intelligence
monitoring network that you presently have a transaction going on with the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as regards your over-due contract payment
which was fully endorsed in your favour accordingly.
It might interest you to know that we have taken out
time in screening through this project as stipulated on our protocol of
operation and have finally confirmed that your contract payment is 100%
genuine and hitch free from all facet and of which you have the lawful right
to claim your payment without further delay. Having said all these we will
further advise that you go ahead in dealing with the Central Bank office
accordingly as we will be monitoring all their activities with you as well
as your correspondence at all level.
also be informed that we recently had a meeting with
the Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in the person of
Prof. Chukwuma Soludo along with some of the top officials of the Ministry
regarding your case and they made us understand that your file has been held
in abase depending on when you personally come for the claim.
They also told us that the only problem they are
facing right now is that some unscrupulous elements are using this project
as an avenue to Scam innocent people off their hard earned money by
impersonating the Executive Governor and the Central Bank office.
We were also made to understand that a lady with
name Mrs. Joan C.Bailey from OHIO has already contacted them and also
presented to them all the necessary documentations evidencing your claim
purported to have been signed personally by you prior to the release of your
contract fund valued at about US$10,700,000.00 (Ten million Seven Hundred
Thousand United States Dollars), but the Central Bank office did the wise
thing by insisting on hearing from you personally before they go ahead on
wiring your fund to the Bank's information which was forwarded to them by
the above named Lady, so that was the main reason why they contacted us so
as to assist them in making the investigations.
They further informed us that we should warn our
dear citizens who must have been informed of the contract payment which was
awarded to them from the Central Bank of Nigeria, to be very careful prior
to these irregularities so that they don't fall victim to this ugly
circumstance anymore. And incase you are already dealing with anybody or
office claiming to be from the Central Bank of Nigeria, you are advised to
STOP further contact with them in your best interest and then contact
immediately the real office of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) only with
the below information accordingly:
NAME: PROF. CHARLES CHUKWUMA
SOLUDO
OFFICE ADDRESS: Central Bank of Nigeria,
Tinubu Square
Tinubu
Lagos - Nigeria.
Email: centbank@centbnkingonlineng.org
NOTE:
In your best interest, any message that doesn't come
from the above official email address should not be replied to and should be
disregarded accordingly for security reasons. Meanwhile, we will advice that
you contact the Central Bank office immediately with the above email address
and request that they attend to your payment file as directed so as to
enable you receive your contract payment accordingly.
Ensure you follow all their procedure as may be
required by them as that will further help hasten up the whole procedures as
regards then transfer of your payment to you as designated. Also have in
mind that the Central Bank of Nigeria equally have their own protocol of
operation as stipulated in their banking terms. Once again, we will advise
that you contact them with the above email address and make sure you forward
to them all the necessary information which they may require from you prior
to the release of your fund to you accordingly.
All modalities has already been worked out even
before you were contacted and note that we will be monitoring all your
dealings with them as you proceed so you don't have anything to worry about.
All we require from you henceforth is an update so as to enable us be on
track with you and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Without wasting much time, we advice you to contact
them immediately with the above email address so as to enable them attend to
your case accordingly without any further delay as time is already running
out.
In case you need any more information in relation
with this notification, feel free to get back to us so that we can brief you
more as we are here to guide you during and after this project has been
completely perfect and you have received your contract fund as stated.
Thank you very much for your anticipated
co-operation in advance as we earnestly await your urgent response to this
matter.
Best Regards,
ROBERT SWAN MUELLER III
WASHINGTON D.C ROOM,7367
J. EDGAR HOOVER FBI BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,
NW WASHINGTON, DC 20535
Review:
Clearly, this email and it's
associated website is criminal activity intended to steal your money!
Recommendations:
If you receive a call from this number or any group that claims to represent
a government agency, take down their information, including
the contact's name, phone number, etc. Do NOT give them any personal or
financial information, especially not a credit card, checking or bank account
number, passport number, etc.
Next, look up the direct phone or email address for the agency they
claim to represent and call them. Read them the email and ask if it could
have come from their agency.
While we don't want to encourage people to ignore correspondence from legal
government agencies, it is a safe bet that NO U.S. government agency will make
any first contact with you by email. Certainly not the FBI or IRS.
FBI
offers this advice:
If you receive an unsolicited e-mail purporting to be from FBI, take the
following steps:
-
Do not open any attachments to the e-mail, in case they contain
malicious code that will infect your computer.
-
Contact FBI at by going to their website and looking up a contact number
or email address.
And please let us know about any
suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we
can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
How to Report a Scam Email:
If you receive a suspicious e-mail that claims to come from:
- Send a copy to ConsumerFraudReporting.org (via
the feedback form)
- Please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at
www.ic3.gov
and
Overseas
Contact the Foreign Commercial Service (FSC) at the nearest U.S.
Embassy or Consulate. If there is no FCS office, contact the American Citizens
Services Unit of the Consular Section or the Regional Security Office.
For a comprehensive list
of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.
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