FBI warns of fake military email scams
Friday, March 13, 2009
The FBI issued an alert that the agency has been receiving reports of individuals victimized while attempting to purchase vehicles off the internet. The latest twist on the scam involves cybercriminals posing as members of the U.S. military.
Victims find attractively priced vehicles advertised at different internet classified ad sites, from which they are contacted by a phony third-party vehicle protection program to ensure a "safe transaction."
After receiving convincing e-mails from the phony vehicle protection program, the victims are told to send the full payment, or a percentage of the payment, to the third-party agent via a wire payment service.
In a new twist on the scammers' storyline, the cybercriminals claim to be military personnel who need to sell a vehicle quickly, either because they have been "sent to a foreign country to improve military relations," or an upcoming deployment to either Iraq or Afghanistan.
The FBI advises consumers to use caution when making purchases online and asks victims of scams to notify the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National White Collar Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The website for complaints can be found at www.IC3.gov.
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