People In Minnesota Warned To Be Aware Of New FBI Fraud Scheme

Wish as we may, I don't think we'll ever see a time when scams aren't popping up left and right, trying to take advantage of people.

Recently, a scam was reported in Minnesota involving someone impersonating the Northern Lights Casino and placing fake ads promising a 'big bonus payment' if people click on a link to download an app. However, the app doesn't even exist, but the link could lead to trouble.

Now, there's a new, more widespread fraud scheme, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is warning everyone, including people in Minnesota, to be on the lookout.

FBI Warns Of Fraud Scheme

Recently, the FBI warned the public about an ongoing fraud scheme where criminal scammers are impersonating FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) employees to deceive and defraud individuals.

They note that between December 2023 and February 2025, they received more than 100 reports of IC3 impersonation scams, and the worst part is that it tries to revictimize those who have already lost money to scams.

How The Scam Works

According to the FBI, this scam begins with victims receiving initial contact from the scammers in various ways, such as an email or a phone call, or through social media forums.

Regardless of how initial contact is made, almost all complainants indicated the scammers claimed to have recovered the victim's lost funds or offered to assist in recovering funds. The victim could be easily fooled since they legitimately reported a loss of funds previously, so they would be more likely to provide whatever information was being requested.

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The FBI says that a recent example of this impersonation scheme variant involves scammers creating female persona profiles on social media networking sites and joining groups for financial fraud victims, representing themselves as fellow financial fraud victims.

Scammers then recommend that actual victims reach out to a male persona, "Jaime Quin" (Quin), the alleged "Chief Director" of IC3, via Telegram. Once contacted, "Quin" claims to have recovered the lost funds, but uses this as a ruse to gain access to their financial information and revictimize them.

Protect Yourself From This Scam

The FBI offers the following tips to help protect yourself:

• The IC3 will never directly communicate with individuals via phone, email, social media, phone apps, or public forums. If further information is needed, individuals will be contacted by FBI employees from local field offices or other law enforcement officers.
• Scammers will change aliases and tactics; however, the scheme generally remains the same.
• Never share sensitive information with people you have met only online or over the phone.
• The IC3 will not ask for payment to recover lost funds, nor will it refer a victim to a company requesting payment for recovering funds.
• Do not send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets to people you do not know or have met only online or over the phone.

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What To Do If You Become A Victim

The FBI requests that victims immediately report fraudulent or suspicious activity to the FBI IC3 at www.ic3.gov.

Be prepared to include as much information as possible:

• Identifying information about the person or company that contacted you.
• Methods of communication that were used such as websites, emails, and telephone numbers.
• Financial transaction information, such as the date, type of payment, amount, account numbers involved, the name and address of the receiving financial institution, and receiving cryptocurrency addresses.
• Description of your interaction with the individual, including how contact was initiated, such as the type of communication, purpose of the request for money, how you were told or instructed to make payment, what information you provided to the scammer, and any other details pertinent to your complaint.

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