The FBI warns that scammers are using spoofed numbers to impersonate doctors, police and banks, while using “smishing” texts that are impersonating a surge in fee agencies and delivery services across the country.
In one elaborate scheme, a scammer who claims that the victim’s identity is linked to a Chinese crime ring sends a call to a fake police with a fake ID and an encrypted app request.
These disadvantages are often targeted at previous fraud victims through social media groups. In social media groups, fake profiles like “Haime Quinn” promise to recover the fund and steal more data. AI and deepfakes make it difficult to find scams, so here’s how to fight back.
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The FBI Building in Washington, DC (Kurt “Cyberguy” Knutsson)
How these scams work
The FBI says these scams often target people who are often victims of scams, which makes them particularly cruel. Scammers are reaching out through phones, emails and even social media to pretend that they can help them recover lost money.
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
One common trick is that people pretending to be officials at the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center use false names like “Jaime Quin” to seek confidential information such as Social Security numbers and bank details.
In other cases, the scammer creates fake female profiles to join online support groups for victims of the scam and gain trust before instructing people to contact “recovery experts.” Details may change, but the goals are always the same. It’s about stealing your personal information and money again.
Woman working on a laptop (Kurt “Cyberguy” Knutsson)
This is what you’re wrong when a scammer calls
How to keep yourself safe
Protecting yourself from fraud begins with these important defenses. Each is designed to close scammers before you step into your personal information or money.
1. Calm down: If you think the con artist is calling you, it’s important to stay calm and not make yourself emotional. When you’re in the middle of this situation, it’s very easy. If that happens, you can always say to them back and hang up. If they become aggressive and try to abuse you, tell them you will report it and hang up.
2. Avoid unknown contact numbers: Do not call any phone numbers that appear in pop-ups, unsolicited texts, or emails. These numbers belong to scammers who try to trick you into sharing your personal information or paying for it. Instead, always check your contact details via the official website or trustworthy sources before reaching out.
3. Download warning: Do not download the software on request of an unknown individual who will contact you. Installing unknown programs can introduce malware and give scammers a way to steal your identity.
4. Security Prevention: Do not allow unknown individuals to access your computer. Allowing remote access allows scammers to control their files and personal information, putting security a serious risk.
5. Click on that link to have powerful antivirus software. Do not click on unsolicited pop-ups on your computer, text messages or links sent via email links and attachments. As scammers weaponize AI and Deepfake Technologies, powerful antivirus software will become the first line of defense. The best way to prevent clicking on malicious links to install malware that may access your personal information is to install strong antivirus protection on all your devices. This also allows you to warn you about phishing emails and ransomware scams. Get the best 2025 Antivirus Protection Winners recommendations for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.
6. Delete your personal information from the web. Personal information is available on the web. If you are unable to access your personal information, you may want to check out the deletion service. Although there are no services that promise to delete all data from the internet, deleting a deletion service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of continuously deleting information from hundreds of sites over a long period of time. Please see the top picks for data deletion services.
7. Do not send money or valuables to strangers: avoid cash wiring, encounter gift cards, cryptocurrency or other assets only online or over the phone, or send other assets. Scammers often put pressure on the victims for these untraceable payments, so always be cautious and check who you are dealing with before sending anything.
8. Consider identity theft protection services: These services monitor your personal information through credit reports, the dark web and public records and will promptly alert you if your data is being published or misused. These services provide valuable early warnings and access to professionals that will help you recover your identity in the event of a fraud. Choose a reputable provider that offers comprehensive monitoring, timely alerts and support to resolve your identity theft issues. Check out my tips and best choices on how to protect yourself from identity theft.
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FBI works to stop fraud (Kurt “Cyberguy” Knutsson)
Top 12 Elderly Scams
What if you are targeted?
If you think you’ve been contacted by a scammer who is pretending to be a FBI, hospital, police, or other trusted entity, it’s important to act promptly.
All communications will be stopped immediately. Please do not further involve yourself or provide personal or financial information. Report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov. We provide as many details as possible, including contact information, how scammers use, how financial transactions use it. If you share your bank or financial institution account information or submit money.
Reporting fraud not only protects you, but also helps law enforcement identify and suspend these offenders.
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Important takeouts in your cart
As fraud becomes more refined, your best weapon is the skepticism and aggressive security measures mentioned above. If you’re in doubt, ask yourself: Does this agency really put pressure on me for payments via a signal or another app? Report all attempts to ic3.gov and trust your gut. If you feel good, it’s probably true.
If scammers weaponize AI and critical infrastructure remains targeted, do you trust today’s cybersecurity policies to protect your identity? Please let us know by writing to cyberguy.com/contact.
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