Hawaii Flooded with Fake FBI E-Mails Seeking Victims

Charlene Thornton, Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC) of the Honolulu office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned the public about fraudulent e-mails coming into Hawaii that purport to be originating from the FBI. These e-mails often seek personal information or payments from unsuspecting recipients.

The fraudulent e-mails give the appearance of legitimacy due to the usage of pictures of the FBI Director, seal, letterhead, and/or banners. The types of schemes utilizing the FBI name are typically notifications of cash prizes or inheritance proceeds that do not exist. Other e-mails arriving in Hawaii purport to be the FBI levying fines via e-mail—a practice that does not exist in reality.

“The FBI does not send out e-mails soliciting personal information from citizens,” said SAC Thornton.  “Please be cautious of any unsolicited e-mail referencing the FBI’s endorsement of any Internet activity.”

The social engineering technique of utilizing the FBI’s name is to intimidate and convince the recipient the e-mail is legitimate. These e-mails often turn into “advance fee schemes” in which the recipients are asked to send money to the defrauders to obtain larger sums of money released in the future. A copy of a fake FBI e-mail is below.

If a member of the public receives an e-mail purporting to be from the FBI, they should contact their local field office via phone to verify its authenticity. Reports of Internet fraud should be directed to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.