Scammers Create Fake Websites Masquerading as the FBI

The FBI has issued a warning about malicious actors impersonating the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) website in attempts to steal personal data or commit financial fraud.

“Malicious actors create fake websites, often by slightly altering the domain characteristics of legitimate resources, to collect personal information that users enter on the site—including name, home address, phone number, email, and banking information,” the FBI explained. “For example, domains of fake websites may contain alternative spellings of words or use a different top-level domain to pose as a legitimate resource.”

Although the FBI did not disclose specific domains, journalists at BleepingComputer identified several fraudulent sites, including icc3[.]live, practicinglawyer[.]net, and ic3a[.]com. One of them, icc3[.]live, even mirrored the FBI’s own scam warning—ironically displaying the same alert about criminals posing as IC3 employees offering “assistance” to victims seeking to recover stolen funds.

This type of fraud has been on the FBI’s radar for months. The agency first issued its warning in April 2025, after receiving more than 100 complaints from victims who encountered these fake websites.

To protect against such attacks, the FBI advises users to:

• Always type www.ic3.gov directly into the browser’s address bar instead of relying on search results.
• Avoid clicking on ads that appear in search engines, which are often purchased by scammers to redirect traffic to phishing sites.

The Bureau also reminded the public of several key safeguards:

• Do not share sensitive information with individuals you have only recently met online or over the phone.
• Never send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other financial assets to such contacts.
• IC3 employees will never contact fraud victims directly via phone, email, social media, or mobile apps.
• The FBI will never demand payment for returning stolen funds or direct victims to fee-based recovery services.

The FBI stresses that any official interaction with the Internet Crime Complaint Center will take place exclusively through its legitimate site at www.ic3.gov.