FBI Issues Urgent Warning Over Widespread SMS Scam Mimicking Official Agency Communications
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, has released a nationwide public service announcement today, alerting all citizens to a sophisticated and rapidly proliferating SMS text message scam. In this scheme, cybercriminals are impersonating the agency to extract sensitive personal and financial data.
According to the official advisory, victims receive an unsolicited text message claiming to be from the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center. The fraudulent message often warns of a pending court case, a subpoena, or an alleged security threat, and instructs the individual to click on a malicious link to verify their identity or pay a fine.
The Bureau emphasized that the FBI does not send unsolicited text messages or demand payments via SMS. The official statement categorically warns that clicking the embedded link can lead to the installation of malware, credential theft, or direct financial loss. Authorities are urging the public to ignore such texts, never reply, and report the incident to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3, at ic3.gov.
This alert comes amid a broader surge in government impersonation fraud, with the FBI reporting a 70 percent increase in related complaints over the previous fiscal quarter. Analysts are advising citizens to verify any such message by contacting their local FBI field office directly.
The Bureau’s cybersecurity division is currently tracing the origins of the campaign, noting that the scammers appear to be using targeted data purchased from illicit online marketplaces. For the public, the singular directive remains: do not engage, do not click, and report immediately.