The FBI has warned that cybercriminals are creating fake versions of its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) website, a site used by the public to report online cyber scams.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation says unsuspecting victims who visit these fake IC3 websites may inadvertently open themselves or their devices to malicious actors trying to steal personal information to carry out future cyberattacks.
“Members of the public could unknowingly visit spoofed websites while attempting to find the FBI IC3's website to submit an IC3 report,” the latest PSA states.
This allows the threat actors to grab information typed into the fake complaint, essentially victimizing the user again.
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Personally identifiable information sought after by the fraudsters can include sensitive details such as name, home address, phone number, email address, and banking information – putting the user at risk for identity theft, financial scams, and social engineering attacks.
In April, the FBI revealed it had received over 100 IC3 impersonation scam reports between December 2023 and February 2025, of cyber actors offering to help victims found on social media recover lost funds.
How to recognize a spoofed IC3 web address
A spoofed website is designed to mimic a legitimate website, the FBI said, tricking the users with slightly altered characteristics, including the use of misspelled URLs or other words, alternative top-level domains, suspicious artifacts, and unprofessional or low-quality graphics.
The FBI reminds users that all secure, official US government organization websites will use a “.gov” extension and “HTTPS” in their website address, as shown here with the IC3 URL, “https://www.ic3.gov/.”
Furthermore, when navigating to IC3's official website, the agency says users should always type “www.ic3.gov” directly into the address bar located at the top of their Internet browser, rather than using a search engine.
If you are using a search engine, the FBI says to avoid any "sponsored" results, as scammers often use these paid-for results to reroute traffic from the legitimate IC3 website.
Internet users are also reminded to only share sensitive information on official, secure .gov websites showing a lock ( ) or https://, which guarantees you’ve safely connected to a .gov website.
How to protect yourself from IC3 scams
Run by the FBI, the IC3 handles complaints covering an array of internet crimes, including fraud schemes such as identity theft, phishing, spam, reshipping, auction fraud, payment fraud, counterfeit goods, romance scams, and non-delivery of goods.
The FBI provides several tips to help protect victims against IC3 impersonation scams:
- Scammers will change aliases and tactics; however, the scheme generally remains the same.
- Never share sensitive information with people you have met only online or over the phone.
- Do not send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets to people you do not know or have met only online or over the phone.
- The IC3 will not ask for payment to recover lost funds, nor will the IC3 refer a victim to a company requesting payment for recovering funds.
- The IC3 does not maintain any social media presence.
- The IC3 will never directly communicate with individuals via phone, email, social media, phone apps, or public forums.
To make an online fraud complaint or report other suspicious activity, you can contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
Additionally, when reporting online fraud, the FBI advises gathering as much information as possible about the person or company that contacted you to provide to the IC3, including the methods of communication used and a detailed description of the interaction.
Information about the financial transaction itself is also important, such as “the date, type of payment, amount, account numbers involved, the name and address of the receiving financial institution, and receiving cryptocurrency addresses,” the FBI said.
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