FBI warns crooks are posing as its crime-reporting center, using AI voices to re-scam people who already lost money. Hang up and call.

Picture this: you report a scam, and a few days later someone calls claiming to be from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3, offering to get your money back. That call is the second half of the con. InvestigateTV reports the FBI is warning that criminals are impersonating IC3, sometimes with look-alike websites, and going after people who already lost money. Tim Lynch, a supervisory special agent and unit chief of the FBI's Cyber-Enabled Fraud and Money Laundering Unit, said scammers watch social media for people who say they've contacted the FBI. "And the scammers just use that to pivot and recontact people to get as much money as possible out of them," he said. Artificial intelligence makes the pitch more convincing: "Scammers are now able to use AI to sound as if they're a normal American next door, and it puts the defenses down for the target." Here's how the real thing works. IC3 isn't an investigative arm. It typically forwards tips to the nearest FBI field office, and agents follow up directly. "If there's ever any doubt over whether our agents are real, we will come to your house, knock on your door, and show you our credentials to prove we are who we say we are," Lynch said. He added that pressure to act fast is a red flag. His advice: "Hang up. Call your local FBI office." My take: a real rescue never starts with a fee. Look up the field office number yourself, and warn the folks you love, because the second punch lands hardest on people still reeling from the first.