FBI warns scammers are impersonating its cybercrime complaint center

August 19, 2026 – Published on InvestigateTV

The FBI is warning the public that scammers are impersonating employees of its Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as IC3, to target victims a second time.

IC3 is where people who have been scammed online can report the crime. Paul Keener, a cybersecurity strategist at GuidePoint Security, said the scheme is particularly harmful because it targets people who have already been victimized once.

“It’s just like a horrible crime, because you’re victimizing people who have already been victimized,” Keener said. “And that’s probably the worst thing.”

Keener said the impersonation scheme carries a broader risk beyond individual victims.

“If you’re a criminal and you are trying not to get your threat network discovered, what would be one of the best ways? To make it so people don’t trust the one tool that the public has in order to report all of these different types of attacks,” Keener said.

The FBI says scammers use a variety of methods to reach victims, including phone calls, emails, social media outreach, fake IC3 websites and AI deepfake videos. Some victims report that impersonators claim to have already recovered lost funds and offer to assist further — typically by requesting payment.

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