Victim swindled out of $100K by scammers claiming to be agents with KC’s FBI division
After an eastern Missouri victim was scammed out of $100,000, the FBI on Tuesday warned that scammers were posing as special agents to trick people out of money.
In the case of a St. Louis County victim, scammers fraudulently displayed the FBI’s real phone number on the caller ID.
The scammers posed as agents with a satellite office of the FBI’s Kansas City division, saying the victim’s social security had been stolen. They then provided the victim instructions for wiring money to “the ‘FBI’ for safekeeping,” the agency said.
In a news release, Timothy Langan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Kansas City division, said these old scams “keep evolving with a new twist.” The FBI, he said, will never demand people for money.
“When someone asks for your money (especially through a wire transfer) or your personal or financial information, be suspicious and verify the legitimacy of the request,” Langan said.
