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Investigate Fraud


The Department plays an essential role in the fight against sophisticated economic crime.

Hotline/How to file a complaint

Report suspected Corporate Fraud directly to FBI Headquarters via the Corporate Fraud Hotline. The toll-free telephone number, 888-622-0117, is manned by FBI analysts Monday through Friday from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. EST.

If you want to report possible online crime, including Internet fraud (for example, "get-rich-quick" schemes or online auction fraud) whether or not you have lost money, please use the ICCC's online complaint form at the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

To report e-mail that involves possibly fraudulent claims about medical devices or products (for example, so-called "miracle" cures) please email the Food and Drug Administration at webcomplaints@ora.fda.gov.

Forward investment-related spam e-mails to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at enforcement@sec.gov.

To report suspected identity fraud, contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report the situation:

  • Online: Submit the Complaint Input Form electronically;
  • By telephone: Toll-free at 1-877-ID THEFT (877-438-4338) or TDD at 202-326-2502; or,
  • By mail: Consumer Response Center, FTC, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
How to Report a Complaint about Waste, Fraud, Abuse, or Misconduct in the Department of Justice

How to Report Suspected Bankruptcy Fraud

How to Report Procurement Fraud

To file complaints against companies: The Federal Citizens Information Center (FCIC) Complaint Resources page offers a list of Federal Agencies where you can document a complaint against a company.

Hurricane Katrina Fraud
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales established the Hurricane Katrina Task Force to deter, detect, and prosecute instances of fraud related to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, with an initial emphasis on charity fraud, identity theft, insurance fraud, and procurement and government-benefit fraud. To learn more, visit the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force Web site.

Corporate Fraud
The President's Corporate Fraud Task Force oversees and directs the investigation and prosecution of significant financial crimes involving fraud by corporations and other business organizations. The Deputy Attorney General chairs the Task Force, which includes the FBI Director, Assistant Attorneys General for the Criminal and Tax Divisions, and United States Attorneys from major business centers. The Task Force coordinates the Department's law enforcement and regulatory efforts in the corporate fraud area with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Labor, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the United States Postal Inspection Service, each of which is also a Task Force member. The Task Force also develops policy, regulatory and legislative recommendations for the Attorney General and the President to better combat corporate fraud. For more information, see the Revised Principles of Federal Prosecution of Business Organizations.

Procurement Fraud
The National Procurement Fraud Task Force was created by Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty on October 10, 2006, to promote the prevention, early detection and prosecution of procurement fraud. The Task Force emphasizes civil and criminal enforcement in the areas of defective pricing, product substitution, misuse of classified and procurement sensitive information, false claims, grant fraud, labor mischarging, fraud involving foreign military sales, ethics and conflict of interest violations, and public corruption associated with procurement fraud.

Identity Theft and Fraud
Identity theft and identity fraud are crimes in which someone obtains and uses another person's personal information in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain. Visit our Web pages to find precautions you can take to protect yourself from identity theft.

Internet Fraud
In general, the same types of fraud schemes that have victimized consumers and investors for many years before the proliferation of Internet use are now appearing online. You may find fraud schemes in chat rooms, e-mail, message boards, or on Web sites. Find more information at our Internet fraud site, where you can also find tips on dealing with Internet fraud.

"Phishing" is a general term for criminals’ creation and use of e-mails and websites – designed to look like e-mails and websites of well-known legitimate businesses, financial institutions, and government agencies – in order to deceive Internet users into disclosing their bank and financial account information or other personal data such as usernames and passwords. The "phishers" then take that information and use it for criminal purposes, such as identity theft and fraud. For more information, see the Special Report on "Phishing"

Africa-Based Investment Schemes
An increasing volume of spam consists of e-mail from a person who represents himself or herself as having some African affiliation, and who is soliciting you to help him or her transfer illegally obtained or questionable funds out of a nation in Africa. (Some more recent e-mails purport to involve moving money out of Afghanistan.) These solicitations are fraudulent, and may violate one or more federal criminal laws.

Do not send any money or financial account information if you receive one of these e-mails (or a letter or fax of a similar nature). See the U.S. Secret Service Financial Crimes Division web page for more information.

If you have responded to one of these online solicitations and have lost money, please contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a joint venture of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, and use the ICCC's online complaint form.

Telemarketing Fraud
Fraudulent telemarketers typically use false and misleading statements, representations, and promises when offering you goods and services, investments, or asking you to donate funds to charitable causes. To learn more about how you can avoid becoming a victim of telephone marketing fraud, visit our telemarketing fraud site, English or Spanish.

Mortgage Scams
Are you having trouble making your home mortgage payments? Are you facing foreclosure on your home? Get all the facts before you pay someone to help you work out your mortgage problems. Check out our consumer alert on mortgage foreclosure scams.

Gather all the information you need and do comparative shopping when you need a mortgage. Looking for the Best Mortgage? A Consumer Information Brochure will guide you on what you need to know when obtaining a mortgage.

Additional Information about Investigating Fraud

  • Consumer information links help consumers locate information that may be useful to them and provide guidance in how to file complaints when appropriate.
  • To find out about other types of computer crime and cybercrime legal and policy issues, see the Cybercrime web site.
  • There is a collection of publications on the National Criminal Justice Reference Service's victims of fraud page.
  • See the FBI's Common Fraud Schemes page for additional fraud prevention tips.
  • Additional information about fraud can be found on other Federal Government websites, including the Federal Citizen Information Center Scams and Frauds page and USA.gov's Consumer Information page at www.consumer.gov.

For more information about the Department components that are most active in this area, consult the Criminal Division Fraud Section, Civil Division Office of Consumer Litigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation web sites.




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