Spoofed IC3/FBI Fraud-Reporting Website Scam

Criminals are building near-exact clones of the FBI's official Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov) website to steal personal and financial data from people who are trying to report a scam they were already victimized by.

Scam victims searching online for how to report fraud, or who click a "sponsored" search ad, social media post, or link shared in a scam-recovery group, land on a fake site built to look like the real IC3.gov complaint portal, often using a domain with slight misspellings or a different top-level domain. The cloned page mimics the FBI seal, banner text, and even the genuine site's own warning about impersonators, then presents a "complaint form" that harvests names, addresses, emails, phone numbers, and banking details. Some versions follow up by emailing a fake confirmation of the "report," or by having a scammer posing as IC3/FBI personnel contact the victim on messaging apps to offer fund "recovery," pushing them toward a second round of financial loss.

• Arriving at 'ic3' or 'FBI' report sites through a search ad, social media post, or a link someone else sent rather than typing the address yourself
• URL that is close to but not exactly www.ic3.gov (extra words, hyphens, or a non-.gov ending)
• Being contacted afterward by someone claiming to be FBI/IC3 staff offering to help recover money you reported losing
• Low-quality graphics, odd phrasing, or a complaint form asking for banking log-in details or payment before it will 'process' your report

• The FBI's IC3 identified the first wave of these fraudulent sites on September 18, 2025, after visitors reported receiving deceptive emails confirming fake IC3 report submissions.
• Security researchers found cloned pages reproducing the FBI seal, IC3 banner, and complaint form, making them nearly indistinguishable from the authentic site.
• Reported instances describe cybercrime groups using Facebook and search-engine ads to spread the phishing sites and drive traffic to them.

• Type www.ic3.gov directly into your browser's address bar instead of searching for it, and never click 'sponsored' search results
• Double-check that the URL ends in .gov and reads exactly www.ic3.gov before entering any information
• Never send money or provide banking passwords to anyone contacting you about a complaint you filed or offering to recover lost funds
• If you suspect you used a spoofed site, monitor your accounts, place a fraud alert with credit bureaus, and file a genuine report directly on ic3.gov