Federal authorities are issuing a nationwide warning about a sophisticated scam where fraudsters impersonate federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials to defraud citizens of money and personal information. The perpetrators, potentially operating from outside the United States, contact individuals via text message, email, or phone calls.
Scammers claim victims are either suspects in a fraud investigation or have been victims themselves, often providing convincing details such as legitimate-sounding titles, badge numbers, names, and addresses. They may even "spoof" phone numbers to make calls appear to originate from official government agencies. A specific name, "Prosecutor Dominick Gerace," has been used in this scheme.
U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II emphasized, "The Department of Justice and the FBI will never direct you to wire money." He added, "Federal authorities do not call victims of crimes or suspects of crimes and ask for money or personal identifying information over the telephone." FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Jason Cromartie also warned, "If someone contacts you claiming to be from the government and pressures you to send money, it’s a scam."
To avoid becoming a victim, authorities advise being suspicious of unsolicited communications and never providing money or personal details to unknown callers. If concerns arise, verify the information directly with the relevant law enforcement agency. Suspected fraudulent activity should be reported to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.