Many consumers receive a variety of unsolicited commercial e-mail (also known as "spam") in their offices or at home. While people don't always like getting spam, much of it has a legitimate business purpose. Unsolicited e-mails, however, are often the initial means for criminals, such as operators of fraudulent schemes, to contact and solicit prospective victims for money, or to commit identity theft by deceiving them into sharing bank and financial account information.

The following information, e-mail addresses and contacts noted below are provided for your reference if you have received a particular type of unsolicited email and would like to report or forward it on to law enforcement authorities.

• Internet Fraud
• Hurricane Katrina Relief Fraud
  The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force was established by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to combat all types of fraud relating to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, with an initial emphasis on charity fraud, identity theft, insurance fraud, and procurement and government-benefit fraud. See the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force Web Site for more information.
• 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.
• Medical Products and Devices
  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.
• Financial Investments
  Forward investment-related spam e-mails to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at enforcement@sec.gov.
• General
  If you want to report other possible online crime, including online 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.



• Other Types of Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail
   
  • For more information about reporting unsolicited e-mail that does not fall into any of the above categories, see the Federal Trade Commission's Spam E-mail web site. If you have received spam of any type, but have not responded to it, you can send a copy of it to the FTC at SPAM@UCE.GOV.
  • To file a complaint about a violation of the National Do Not Call Registry or to register your telephone number on the Registry, please go to www.donotcall.gov.



• Fact Sheets from the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT)
   
  • Reducing Spam
  • Recognizing and Avoiding E-mail Scams
  • Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks