FBI warns criminals are spoofing its number to scam people

Calls are part of a Social Security scam, officials warned

American flags fly over the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) building July 18, 2001 in Washington, D. C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Scammers are spoofing the number of the FBI and using it to trick people into handing over their personal information, it has warned.

Officials said that the calls appear to be coming from the phone number of the FBI headquarters – 202-324-3000 – and so will show up as coming from from investigators on caller ID.

If a victim answers, scammers will claim they are an FBI agent, even giving a fake name and badge number. They will then say that the victim's Social Security number has been suspended, and that they need to take steps to get it back.

Those steps are where the scam really begins: victims are told they need to purchase gift cards and put money on them, and then call the scammer and give the gift card numbers. The scammer will then steal the money on those gift cards, and disappear, hanging up the phone and giving no information on the Social Security number.

The FBI made clear that "any legitimate law enforcement officer will not demand cash or gift cards from a member of the public", and so any phone call from anyone claiming to be an official agent but asking for such a gift card is inevitably fake.

Such scams are yet more evidence of the fact that criminals are becoming increasingly technologically sophisticated in their fraud. Because of the ability to spoof the phone number, and so give the impression that the call is real, the attacks can be especially convincing.

Criminals often target young people and the elderly with the aim of luring them into the scam.

Sometimes, the criminals behind such scams even threaten physical violence or financial attacks to force the victims to hand over personal information or money, the FBI warned.

The FBI suggested that people should "be wary of answering phone calls from numbers you do not recognise". Further, they advised anyone receiving such calls to never send money or gift cards to the people who ring, or hand out personal information to unknown callers.