E-Mail Hoax Claims to Be From FBI
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2006 — -- Just because that e-mail says it comes from the FBI, doesn't mean you should trust it.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has warned Internet users and others to be aware of a hoax e-mail that claims to come from FBI Director Robert Mueller and other FBI officials.
According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center -- or IC3 -- notice, the hoax e-mail advises the recipient that he is the beneficiary of a large sum of money. It states further that in order for him to claim the money, the recipient must provide an FBI Identification Record and a Certificate of Ownership.
The e-mail contains information lifted from the FBI's Web site that descibes what an Identification Record is and how to obtain it from the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division.
The e-mail concludes with a threatening "If you fail to provide the Documents to us, we will charge you with the FBI and take our proper action against you for not proofing to us the legitimate of the fund you are about to receive. Faithfully Yours, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III"
FBI officials say the hoax is a typical Nigerian scam, which has become more prevalent in recent years. Many of the people who fall victim to these scams are elderly or foreign-born individuals.
Later, individuals receive a second, more threatening notice, claiming to come from Donna Uzzell, another senior FBI official, which says, "It has come to the attention of our Money Trafficking investigation department, that you have some funds valued at U.S $10.5 Million to your name. ... You are under an observational /Investigation in connection with money laundering."
The warning from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, "At this point the message becomes more threatening, stating the FBI has investigative programs which can track down those who fail to provide the requested documentation. It further states failure to comply will result in charges being brought against the individual by the FBI. THIS E-MAIL IS A HOAX. DO NOT RESPOND. Be cautious when responding to requests or special offers delivered through unsolicited e-mail."
Nigerian letter-fraud schemes and now recent e-mail hoaxes involving Nigerian organized crime elements have grown since the mid 1990s.
Victims of the Nigerian fraud receive letters or e-mail claiming to come from Nigerian landowners or government officials, and offer the chance to receive millions of dollars that the sender is trying to move out of the country.
The scheme using the FBI director's name shows a new variant on the schemes.
The FBI's recent notice warns individuals to be cautious when responding to requests or special offers delivered through unsolicited e-mail. The advisory from the Internet Crime Complaint Center advises individuals to always "Guard your personal information as well as your account information carefully. You should never give any personal, credit, or banking information in response to unsolicited e-mails."
A sample of the e-mail hoax claiming to come from the FBI director is below: Individual names have been withheld for privacy reasons. Grammatical errors run ramapant throughout these e-mails:
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
wrote:
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.
J. EDGAR. HOOVER BUILDING WASHINGTON D.C.
14/10/2006
ATTENTION: _________________________
This is to inform you that it have come to the notic board of the Federal Bureau Investigation(FBI), That the sum of $10, Million Five Hundred Thousand U.S Dollars has bee transfered to your account here in United State Of America. The name we have on the fund as the rightfullbeneficiary is _______________ . That is why we have decided to contact you directly to acquire the proper verifications and proof from you to show that you are the rightfull person to receive this fund, because the above mentioned amount is a big amount of money,that is why we want to make sure is a clear and legal money you are about to receive.
Be informed that the fund have hit your account in Bank , but right now we have ask not to release the fund to anybody that comes to them , unless we ask them to do so, because we have to carry out our investigations first before releasing the fund to you. Note that the fund is in the bank of america right now,but we have ask them not to credit your account yet,because we need some proof and verifications from you before releasing.
So to this regards you are to reassure and proof to us that what you are about to receive is a clean money by sending to us FBI Identification Record and also Certificate Of Ownership to satisfy to us that the money your about to receive is real money. You are to forward the documents to us immediately if you have it with you, if you dont have it let us know so that we will direct and inform you where to obtain the document and send to us so that we will ask the Bank Of America to go ahead Crediting your account immediately. This Documents are to be issued to you from the place where the fund was transfer from, so get back to us immediately if you dont have the document so that we will inform you the particular place and what it will takes to obtain it in Federal Republic Of Nigeria, because we have come to realise that the fund is transfered from the Federal Republic Of Nigeria.
An FBI Identification Record and Certificate of Ownership often referred to as a Criminal History Record or Rap Sheet, is a listing of certain information taken from fingerprint submissions retained by the FBI in connection with arrests and, in some instances, federal employment, naturalization or military service. If the fingerprints are related to an arrest, the Identification Record includes name of the agency that submitted the fingerprints to the FBI, the date of the arrest, the arrest charge, and the disposition of the arrest, if known to the FBI. All arrest data included in an Identification Record is obtained from fingerprint submissions, disposition reports and other reports submitted by agencies having criminal justice responsibilities.
The United States Department of Justice Order 556-73 establishes rules and regulations for the subject of an FBI Identification Record to obtain a copy of his or her own Record for review. The FBIs Criminal Justice Information Services Division processes these requests.
An individual may request a copy of his or her own FBI Identification Record for personal review or to challenge information on the record. Other reasons an individual may request a copy of his or her own Identification Record may include international adoption or to satisfy a requirement to live or work in a foreign country (i.e., Certificate Of Ownership, letter of good conduct, criminal history background, etc.)
On October 9, 1998, President Clinton signed into law the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact (Compact) Act of 1998, establishing an infrastructure by which states can exchange criminal records for noncriminal justice purposes, according to the laws of the requesting state, and provide reciprocity among the states to share records without charging each other for the information. The Compact became effective April 28, 1999, after Montana and Georgia became the first two states to ratify it, respectively. To date, 27 states have ratified the Compact.
The Compact Council as a national independent authority, works in partnership with criminal history record custodians, end users and policymakers to regulate and facilitate sharing the complete, accurate, and timely criminal history record information to noncriminal justice users in order to enhance public safety, welfare and security of Society while recognizing the importance of individual privacy rights.
NOTE: We have asked for the above documents to make available the most complete and up-to date records possible for noncriminal justice purposes. If you fail to provide the Documents to us, we will charge you with the FBI and take our proper action against you for not proofing to us the legitimate of the fund you are about to receive. Faithfully Yours,
FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller, III