The FBI has issued a new Public Service Announcement warning of an evolving fraud campaign in which threat actors impersonate the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and FBI personnel to re-target victims using AI-generated deepfakes and spoofed websites.
Released on July 20, 2026, the alert highlights a significant escalation in recovery scam tactics, where cybercriminals exploit individuals who have already suffered financial losses by falsely promising to recover stolen funds.
According to the FBI, attackers are combining multiple social engineering techniques to build highly convincing fraud operations.
These include AI-generated deepfake videos impersonating senior FBI officials, spoofed IC3 complaint portals designed to harvest sensitive data, and social media impersonation of FBI agents across platforms such as Facebook Messenger and Telegram.
Scammers Use AI Deepfakes and Fake IC3 Websites
Victims are often contacted via email, phone calls, or social media after indicating they intend to report prior fraud. Threat actors then pose as law enforcement officials and claim they can assist in recovering lost funds, creating a false sense of legitimacy and urgency.
A central component of the campaign involves fraudulent websites designed to closely mimic the official IC3 portal. These spoofed sites replicate the branding and layout of the legitimate www.ic3.gov platform but are limited in functionality.
Unlike the real IC3 system, the fake websites present a simplified complaint form requesting basic details such as name, contact information, scam type, and estimated financial loss.
After submission, victims receive a fake reference number and are told they will be contacted by authorities. In reality, the submitted data is harvested for further exploitation, identity theft, or additional financial fraud.
In some cases, links distributed by impersonators may also deliver malicious code or redirect users to credential harvesting pages. The FBI also emphasized the growing role of AI-generated deepfake technology in amplifying these scams.
Threat actors are creating realistic videos and audio recordings that impersonate government officials and trusted figures. In one reported case, deepfake videos of a senior FBI leader were circulated on social media platforms.
According to FBI, these synthetic media techniques are also used in real-time video calls, voice messages, and pre-recorded clips to establish credibility and manipulate victims into compliance.
Detecting such threats is becoming increasingly difficult due to the sophistication of AI-generated content. However, the FBI advises users to look for subtle inconsistencies such as unnatural facial movements, distorted visual elements, mismatched audio tones, or slight irregularities in communication details like email domains and URLs.
Fraudulent websites may also exhibit limited navigation functionality or repeatedly redirect users to the homepage. The FBI reiterates that IC3 does not maintain a social media presence and will never contact individuals directly via phone, email, or messaging platforms to recover funds.
Users are strongly advised to access IC3 only by directly entering www.ic3.gov into their browser, avoid clicking on sponsored or unfamiliar links, verify that URLs end in “.gov,” and never share sensitive information on unverified platforms.
This campaign reflects a broader trend in cybercrime where generative AI is increasingly weaponized to scale and enhance social engineering attacks.
By combining deepfake technology with trusted institutional impersonation, threat actors are significantly improving their success rates. The FBI continues to monitor these developments and urges the public to remain vigilant against increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes.
Cut SOC investigation blind spots and contain threats earlier to reduce response costs and business disruption with ANY.RUN.
 and FBI personnel to re-target victims using AI-generated deepfakes and spoofed websites.){kind=link}