Thread: Fake Letters from FBI

I don't know whether y'all have either HAD emails that SAY they are from the FBI or whether you've heard the news reports about it but, since I've gotten several myself, I thought it might be a good idea to alert everyone.

The ones I have gotten contain viruses and have been caught in my spam/virus filter. They end with .gov.us rather than just .gov. The ones I've gotten only say I've visited illegal websites. BUT, this is really strange--my mother, who is 86 years old, had one caught in HER spam filter yesterday and she doesn't even have a computer OR internet accesss. All she has is an email station. Hers went into more detail. It said she had visited 31 illegal sites and it said they needed her to fill out a questionnaire. It even gave a name of a supposed FBI employee AND the address and phone number of the FBI.

When I first started getting these, I was a LITTLE upset but then I noticed the .gov.us AND that they were viruses and felt a LITTLE better about it. But, last week, they FINALLY had something on the news about this and the FBI says these are FAKES and NOT to answer them. It also said to file a report WHICH I DID. Unfortunately, since I am an obsessive/compulsive neat freak, I had deleted all of the ones I had gotten. But, yesterday, I got another one which I have saved. The thing about it is that they have attachments and my filter won't allow them to be opened and I'm sure not going to send it through to my email in case it DOES have a virus. BUT, since I can check Mother's email through my computer, I was able to print the one she got that actually had names. I didn't file a report on that one.

SO--if any of you have gotten those, it wouldn't hurt to go to the FBI site and file a report. Make sure to keep any that you get for future reference and DON'T PANIC. The FBI is NOT sending these out. At least, they SAY they aren't!

LOL. Who would do this ? This is kind of strange.

It is VERY strange and it's OBVIOUS that they are trying to steal personal information from you. I wish I could have opened the attachment to see just what kind of questions they wanted my mother to answer.

Actually it isn't very funny, but sometimes people's first reaction to something serious can be to laugh. I'd sure like to know who or how anyone could do that. Obviously it is meant to scare people, wouldn't you say?

Oh, absolutely. And, then you wonder WHAT they are trying to find out from people. Social Security info, credit card info??? It must be MASSIVE for the FBI to put out a disclaimer and tell people to file a report.

Never open attachments from unsolicited e-mails. Also, unless you get regular e-mail from the FBI or any other agency, I'd be suspicious of any that just show up. If the FBI or any law enforcement agency was going to investigate anyone they are not going to do it through e-mails.

My personal favorites though are Nigerian money scams. I came across a web site last week where a guy actually answers them and leads them along for a couple of weeks and some he has gotten some to send him pictures.

No websites are illegal to the veiwer

Good points, both of you! They PROBABLY picked MINE up by doing a google search on me and the WORD ILLEGAL came up because of the CAUSE!!! Joking. I've never done a Google search on myself!

Originally Posted by Bootsie

Oh, absolutely. And, then you wonder WHAT they are trying to find out from people. Social Security info, credit card info??? It must be MASSIVE for the FBI to put out a disclaimer and tell people to file a report.

For one thing, NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR SS #.
This is why I dont want foreign people, and this includes Canada when I talk about it, having ANY of my personal information. The banks and computer support people in places like India and Canada are already being provided with everything they need to know about our personal data. All they need from us is date of birth, mother's maidon name, etc, before they go on a wild shopping spree. Whats to stop someone all the way in India from going on a charging rampage? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Our credit cards, in case of forgery or theft, are protected automatically by credit theft of up to $50. At least that is what is used to be covered for. You watch - banks will now stop all this practice and MAKE everyone pay high amounts of insurance for using their cards, yet they are the ones to blame for GIVING OUT all our data to foreign people. This all turns my stomach.

Don't you WORRY. I would NEVER give out ANY personal info UNLESS I was the one initiating the call.

I THINK my bank covers ALL fraudulent charges on my MasterCard now because I DID have someone commit fraud on me a year or so ago. MasterCard caught it before they had done much damage which AMAZED ME. They called me and reported it and they asked me card information. I told them I wouldn't give it to them and that I would call the number listed on my card and find out if it was true!!! And, I did. And, it was. And, they removed all three of the charges and also told me to file a report with the Credit Reporting agencies and have them flag my account JUST IN CASE my IDENTITY was stolen. It didn't turn out that they actually stole my identity. They had used the card to pay for things by phone and they just used random numbers and it happened to be me! They had me cut up the card while they had me on the phone and reissued a new card. That was MBNA and I have to give them credit for being ON THE BALL. I guess it's in THEIR best interest to be on the ball!