Don't lose your money to these scammers, FBI warns

TOPEKA (KSNT) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning on Monday regarding widespread fraud schemes where scammers impersonate law enforcement or government officials to extort money or steal personal information.

The announcement states that scammers will often use tactics such as adopting official phone numbers, names and credentials of well-known government and/or law enforcement agencies to lend credibility to their scam. They will then use an urgent and aggressive tone, refusing to speak to or leave a message with anyone other than their targeted victim and will urge the victim not to tell anyone else about what is happening.

Payment is demanded in various forms such as through prepaid cards, wire transfers and cash sent by mail or inserted into cryptocurrency ATMs. Victims are asked to read prepaid card numbers over the phone or text a picture of the card. The mailed cash will be hidden or packaged to avoid detection by normal mail scanning devices while wire transfers are usually sent overseas so funds almost immediately vanish.

While scam tactics change over time, they often share many of the same characteristics such as:

• The victim's identity was allegedly used in a crime.
• The victim is accused of not reporting for jury duty and is being fined.
• Text messages from fake government agencies requesting information about passports or driver's license renewals.
• The victim's personal information has been compromised and is told to contact the agency immediately.
• Medical practitioners are contacted to warn of the expiration of their medical licensing or their medical license was used to conduct a crime.

Many victims report extortion by law enforcement and government impersonators in connection with other types of fraud such as:

• Romance scams
• Lottery scams
• Government grant scams

These types of scams have been found in Kansas recently when someone was reportedly impersonating a deputy of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office in January. The scammer claimed that the victim had a warrant and could resolve it by paying with cash over the phone.

To protect yourself from these scams, the FBI says that law enforcement and/or government officials will never contact people by phone to demand any form of payment or to request personal or sensitive information. Always ask for credentials to validate identity.

If you're a victim of a scam, cease all contact with the scammer immediately, notify your financial institutions to safeguard your accounts and contact your local law enforcement and file a police report. You can also file a complaint with the FBI here.