Category: FBI

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

The Albuquerque FBI Division has started a public education campaign designed to encourage victims and witnesses of hate crimes in New Mexico to report them to law enforcement.

The motto of the campaign is: “Stop the Hate – Be Heard – Report Now.”

A key component of that campaign was announced at a news conference Wednesday: three Albuquerque public transit buses will have information prominently displayed on their exteriors encouraging victims and witnesses of hate crimes to report them to the FBI.

The buses with the ads will circulate around the metro area for six months.

“The FBI is ready to use all the tools at our disposal to protect the rights of each and every American, regardless of their country of origin or immigration status,” Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda said.

On the buses will be a tip line that anyone can use to report hate crimes quickly and easily to the FBI: tips.fbi.gov.

The public also can call the FBI toll-free 24/7: 1-800-CALL-FBI.

SAC Bujanda was joined in the announcement by acting U.S. Attorney Fred Federici for the District of New Mexico, Mayor Tim Keller, Police Chief Harold Medina, City Councilor Lan Sena representing the Asian-American community, Dr. Harold Bailey, president of the Albuquerque NAACP, and John Moya, director of the League of United Latin American Citizens National Education Service Center in Albuquerque.

The FBI last week released hate crime statistics for 2020. Law enforcement agencies in New Mexico reported 55 hate crime incidents last year, up from 50 incidents reported the year before.

“And while that might sound like a lot, we have a hunch that not every hate crime is being reported,” SAC Bujanda said.

The Albuquerque FBI Division has given several media interviews and posted numerous messages on its Twitter site with information on hate crimes—including how to find out what a hate crime is.

The field office has established a Civil Rights Working Group that is bringing law enforcement and community groups together to explore how we can work together to combat hate crimes and other violations.

And more outreach projects are in the works.

The FBI, the lead investigative agency for hate crimes and other criminal violations of federal civil rights statutes, works closely with local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners around the country in many of these cases.

Hate crimes are the highest priority of the FBI’s civil rights program because of the devastating impact they have on families and communities.

New Mexico made history by being the first state to have defendants charged under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act more than a decade ago.

Traditionally, FBI investigations of hate crimes were limited to crimes in which the perpetrators acted based on a bias against the victim’s race, color, religion, or national origin. In addition, investigations were restricted to those wherein the victim was engaged in a federally protected activity.

With the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, the Bureau became authorized to also investigate crimes committed against those based on biases of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or gender.

The FBI investigates hundreds of hate crime cases across the country every year, but these crimes are often under-reported to both federal and local law enforcement.

“If you have been the victim of a hate crime, know that we really do care about what happened to you—and we want to do something about it,” SAC Bujanda said. “There is no place in New Mexico for hate and intolerance.”

More information on hate crimes can be found at: https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Kieran Ramsey, special agent in charge of the Portland Field Office, describes responding after the attacks. He was a young agent assigned to the Seattle Field Office, having only been in the FBI for just under three years at that time.

Transcript / Visit Video Source

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

In the moments after the country was attacked on September 11, 2001—before the largest-ever FBI investigation took shape and evidence response teams deployed, even before heroic first-responders were seen heading to plane crash sites in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—many people across the country felt a profound new calling to help and to serve.

“I can vividly remember the moment and then the days and weeks following September 11, and I immediately knew that I wanted to be part of preventing that ever happening again,” said Brandon, a forensic DNA expert at the FBI Laboratory, who was in college 20 years ago when terrorists crashed four planes and killed nearly 3,000 people. “What September 11 did for me was it gave me that new direction.”

As she watched wall-to-wall news coverage during the immediate aftermath of the attacks, 14-year-old Carrie, who today is an intelligence analyst in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, said that all she wanted to do at the time was go to the attack site in New York and help. “It really was like, ‘I want to do something. I want to help. I want to go to Ground Zero and help them,’” Carrie recalled in a recent interview. “But everyone’s telling you, ‘You can’t. You’re too young. You don’t understand.’ And you’re like, ‘I do understand. I do know what’s going on. And I want to help.’”

Across the FBI there are scores of employees with similar stories—the SWAT special agent who was a kid in Brooklyn being whisked to safety on 9/11 when he saw an FBI agent helping people and decided at that moment he would one day do the same. Or the intelligence analyst who was 12 and at school when her teacher turned the TV on to see planes hit the World Trade Center towers. It set her on a career path to help prevent another attack. “9/11 has always been in the back of my mind as a pushing force that makes me want to do the work that I do with the FBI,” she said.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

PHOENIX, AZ—In honor of National Report Medicare Fraud Day on Sunday, September 12, the FBI Phoenix Division is encouraging the public to be aware of health care fraud, and actions you can take to help prevent yourself from falling victim.

According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), health care related fraud saw a 110% increase in victims nationally from 2019 to 2020, rising from 657 victims to 1,383. The reported losses saw an even more significant increase, rising from 1.1 million dollars in 2019 to 29 million dollars in 2020.

Health care fraud is a scheme that attempts to defraud private or government health care programs. Schemes may include offers for fake insurance cards, stolen health information, and various other scams involving medications, supplements, or diversion practices.

Health care fraud can be committed by medical providers, patients, and others who intentionally deceive the health care system to receive unlawful benefits or payments. These scams are often initiated through spam email, Internet advertisements, links in forums/social media, and fraudulent websites.

The FBI suggests these tips to help protect yourself from health care related scams:

• Protect your health insurance information. Don’t share your personal or health information with anyone other than known and trusted medical professionals.
• Beware of “free” services. If you’re asked to provide your health insurance information for a “free” service, it’s most likely not free and could be fraudulently charged to your insurance company.
• Check your explanation of benefits (EOB) regularly. Make sure the dates, locations, and services billed match what you actually received. If there’s a concern, contact your health insurance provider.

If you believe you have been the victim of a health care related scam, please contact FBI Phoenix at (623)466-1999. Victims are also highly encouraged to file a complaint with the FBI at ic3.gov.

For more information on health care fraud, visit: https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/health-care-fraud

For information on health care fraud in relation to COVID 19, visit: https://www.fbi.gov/coronavirus

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News