The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued urgent warnings about cybercriminals spoofing the official Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) website to conduct phishing attacks and steal sensitive personal information.
These fake sites mimic the legitimate www.ic3.gov portal with near-perfect replicas, borrowing content, layouts, and visuals to deceive users into submitting names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and banking details.
Recent screenshots reveal impostor domains like “ichelpindex.com,” flagged as non-official, appearing in security scans such as VirusTotal searches for “ic3.”
Threat actors exploit victims’ trust in the IC3, the FBI’s primary hub for reporting cybercrimes like fraud and scams. Users often land on these fakes via search engines, sponsored links, or manipulated online forums where scammers pose as fellow victims, directing traffic to phony IC3 recovery services.
In one variant, fraudsters impersonate IC3 staff via Telegram, promising fund recovery but extracting more data for account takeovers. The FBI noted over 100 such impersonation reports between late 2023 and early 2025, with spoofed sites surging in 2025, prompting PSAs in April and September.
Spotting Fake IC3 Sites
Silent Push observed these phishing pages replicate the real site’s welcome message and complaint form but use altered domains with misspellings or non-.gov top-level domains.
Security tools highlight discrepancies, such as suspicious search rankings excluding the official ic3.gov. Victims, believing they’ve filed legitimate reports, unwittingly aid further crimes like financial theft or identity fraud.
| Indicator | Real IC3 (www.ic3.gov) | Fake Sites |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | Ends in .gov | Alternate spellings or TLDs like .com |
| Access Method | Type directly in browser | Search engines, sponsored ads |
| Requests | No payments for recovery | Demands personal/financial info |
| Social Media | None | Fake profiles directing to sites |
| Graphics | Professional U.S. gov style | May have low-quality artifacts |
The FBI urges typing www.ic3.gov directly into browsers, avoiding sponsored search results, and verifying .gov endings. Never share sensitive data on unverified sites, and report suspicions only via the official portal.
IC3 maintains no social media and never requests payments for fund recovery. Recent FBI social posts on November 25 reinforced these alerts amid rising complaints.
Public vigilance remains crucial as scammers evolve tactics, targeting prior scam victims seeking recourse. By sticking to direct navigation and skepticism, users can thwart these sophisticated phishing operations.
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