Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)
The FBI Phoenix Field Office is warning the public of phishing and spoofing scams by criminal actors, and actions you can take to help prevent your chances of falling victim. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), Phishing scams reported the most victims nationally in 2020, with more than 240,000 victims reporting about $50 million in losses. Spoofing scams saw significantly less victims, about 28,000, but victims reported a much higher money loss of more than $215 million.
In Arizona, IC3 reported over 1,000 victims of phishing and spoofing victims, with a reported loss of around $3 million.
Phishing is the use of unsolicited email, text messages, and telephone calls purportedly from a legitimate company requesting personal, financial, and/or login credentials. The scammer will often include a malicious attachment or link in the message. If you open the attachment or click on the link, they can gain access to your device.