Will the FBI work with civilians?
2006-09-16 05:47:13 · 6 answers · asked by geri11066 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
I didn't work with the police but I did get my money back.
Several years ago I was surfing the net on some adult site. (I admit it.) Anyway, I was tired and stupid and the site said they needed a credit card to verify my age, and they used verisign or what looked like it so I filled in my credit card information.
A month later I noticed a charge of $29.00 for some sort of really odd name so I called my bank to verify and they gave the company name. I remembered the stupidity on my part and then set out to find out who it was. Thankfully the person listed his real name in the DNS registry. I went to http://www.namesecure.com and just searched for the URL as if I were interested in buying the name. It wasn't available of course but then you can click and find out who the owner currently is. Most people just put false info here but this guy used his real name and address, even phone number. So I called the guy and asked what happened. He said that I joined his adult club to look at naked women but I only took the free tour to look at naked woman. I wasn't married at that time but it was still embarassing. Something told me to return to his "trial offer" and make a copy of those pages. That was good because he changed that page the next day. When I filed a report with my bank I faxed them all the info that I had gathered about the guy and they refunded my money.He did send some sort of Email saying he would get even but it has been 10 years now and I am sure he had plenty of other complaints to worry about.
So yes you can be proactive but never endanger yourself. I would try to handle it civil as I did, but if that doesn't work then report it to the local police and you ISP first. Report to his ISP if you know it. Save copies of everything that you have. Contact the FBI if you lost any money as they ultimately handle crimes across state lines. Even if he is operating out of Zaire or Russia at least you reported the scam and chances are you aren't the only one. You might help your own situation at the most and help others at the least.
Good Luck
2006-09-17 23:51:19 · answer #1 · answered by Yahoo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no but the federal trade commission does work with that kind of stuff and they work with the FBI. I don't know of a citizen that works with internet scammers sorry.
2006-09-20 12:31:58 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Generally, once a complaint is made, federal law enforcement (FTC) does its thing without other involvement. Sometimes, the govt will work with large businesses in the industry, but rarely need to work with private individuals.
2006-09-16 13:01:23 · answer #3 · answered by coragryph 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Generally its the FBI
2006-09-19 18:13:43 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many time those scammers are in another country that doesn't care about their crimes.That makes it difficult for the Feds.
2006-09-16 13:18:44 · answer #5 · answered by John G 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That answer is top secret,need to know basis. I'm afraid you don't have clearance.
2006-09-16 12:51:10 · answer #6 · answered by Papa WILL 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋