{"id":358065,"date":"2025-08-15T15:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T09:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/?p=358065"},"modified":"2025-08-15T15:11:37","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T09:41:37","slug":"fictitious-law-firms-targeting-cryptocurrency-scam-victims-combine-multiple-exploitation-tactics-while-offering-to-recover-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/fictitious-law-firms-targeting-cryptocurrency-scam-victims-combine-multiple-exploitation-tactics-while-offering-to-recover-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"Fictitious Law Firms Targeting Cryptocurrency Scam Victims Combine Multiple Exploitation Tactics While Offering to Recover Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"<header>\n<div class=\"fields\">\n<p><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: #222222;\">This PSA is an update to Alert Number I-062424-PSA titled, &#8220;<\/span><a style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ic3.gov\/PSA\/2024\/PSA240624\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fictitious Law Firms Targeting Cryptocurrency Scam Victims Offering to Recover Funds.<\/a><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: #222222;\">&#8221; This updated advisory provides additional red flag indicators and due diligence measures to help victims who have been in contact with fictitious law firms conducting this fraudulent activity.This scheme combines a number of exploitation tactics including targeting vulnerable populations, particularly the elderly; exploiting victims&#8217; emotional state and financial need to recover funds from a previous scam; and giving victims the sense of safety and security by impersonating or falsely affiliating themselves with multiple government entities. Contact with scammers impersonating law firms continue to pose many risks, including the theft of personal data and funds from unsuspecting victims to the reputational harm of actual lawyers being impersonated.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Red Flag Indicators of Potential Fictitious Law Firm Activity:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Impersonation of actual lawyers and\/or legitimate law firms and the production of fictitious documents with a legitimate law firm insignia or letterhead.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Impersonation or affiliation as official authorized partners with multiple US and foreign government or regulatory entities. There are no law firms which are officially authorized partners of US Government agencies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">References to fictitious government or regulatory entities, such as the International Financial Trading Commission (<abbr>INTFTC<\/abbr>). Double check whether such an agency exists.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Requesting payment in cryptocurrency or prepaid gift cards. The US Government does not request payment for law enforcement services provided.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Having knowledge of the exact amounts and dates of previous wire transfers and the third-party company where the victim previously sent scammed funds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Stating the victim was on a government-affiliated list of scam victims and they can recover their money through &#8220;legal channels.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Referring victims to a &#8220;crypto recovery law firm.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">State the victims&#8217; funds are in an account held at a foreign bank and tell victims to register an account at that bank. The domain or website provided for this bank appears legitimate but is a fraudulent platform to facilitate the ongoing scheme.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Placing victims into a group chat on WhatsApp, or other messaging applications, for supposed secrecy and safety of the client with supposed foreign bank processors and attorneys who may say that payment of bank fees is required to verify identity and ownership to withdraw funds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">An unwillingness or inability to provide credentials or a license, not appearing on camera, and not conducting video meetings.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Request victims send payment to a third-party entity (i.e., xyz trading company) for the supposed purposes of maintaining secrecy and safety.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Additional Due Diligence Measures to Prevent Hiring of Fictitious Law Firms:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Use a &#8220;Zero Trust&#8221; model in these circumstances, which assumes no one should be trusted by default and every request should be verified.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Be cautious of law firms contacting you unexpectedly, especially if you have not reported the crime to any law enforcement or civil protection agencies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Request video verification or documentation or a photo of their law license. If this cannot be readily provided, assume they are not legitimate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Request verification of employment for anyone claiming to work for the US Government or law enforcement. You can call your local office for the associated government entity and request to verify the identity of the individual with whom you are communicating.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Keep records, including recordings of video chats of all interactions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Require notarized proofs of identity from the supposed lawyers before continuing any further communications and transactions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Victim Reporting<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">The FBI requests victims of fraudulent law firm scams, or those who suspect they may have been victimized, to report the suspicious activity to their local FBI field office and the FBI&#8217;s Internet Crime Compliant Center (<abbr>IC3<\/abbr>) at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic3.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.ic3.gov<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<section><strong><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">Additional Resources<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"psa-resources\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">This PSA is an update to Alert Number I-062424-PSA, published on\u00a0<time datetime=\"2024-06-24T10:00:00.000-04:00\">24 June 2024<\/time>, titled &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic3.gov\/PSA\/2024\/PSA240624\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fictitious Law Firms Targeting Cryptocurrency Scam Victims Offering to Recover Funds<\/a>.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;\">This PSA is an update to Alert Number I-081123-PSA, published on\u00a0<time datetime=\"2023-08-11T12:35:00.000-04:00\">11 August 2023<\/time>, titled, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic3.gov\/PSA\/2023\/PSA230811\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Increase in Companies Falsely Claiming an Ability to Recover Funds Lost in Cryptocurrency Investment Scams<\/a>.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This PSA is an update to Alert Number I-062424-PSA titled, &#8220;Fictitious Law Firms Targeting Cryptocurrency Scam Victims Offering to Recover Funds.&#8221; This updated advisory provides additional red flag indicators and due diligence measures to help victims who have been in contact with fictitious law firms conducting this fraudulent activity.This scheme combines a number of exploitation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14083],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-358065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-technology-industry-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358065\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}