Security News > 2021 > February > Scammers posing as FBI agents threaten targets with jail time
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning of scammers actively posing as FBI representatives and threatening targets with fines and jail time unless they don't hand out personal and/or financial information.
As the FBI warns, the agency has received multiple reports of such scam attempts where the fraudsters are targeting North Florida residents attempting to steal their personal info.
"[m]ultiple versions of the government impersonation scam have been reported in recent days, all of which exploit intimidation tactics," the FBI Jacksonville report added.
After denying to hand out any of the requested info, the victim was later contacted by a second scammer impersonating an FBI agent and asking for the same info to help with an investigation targeting the sweepstakes company.
Another victim was called by another fraudster posing as an FBI representative and was threatened to immediately provide financial and personal info to help with an ongoing investigation.
The FBI advises reaching out to the local field office to verify the identity of anyone claiming to be part of an investigation as a representative of the FBI. The FBI added that none of the agency's representatives will request money to solve an ongoing investigation or for other reasons.