Black El Paso Voice

All Things Black in El Paso

FBI EL PASO

Sharing information for the El Paso, Texas community.

SCAM ALERT: Scammers Impersonating the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

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The FBI wants to warn everyone about an ongoing fraud scheme where criminal scammers are impersonating the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) employees to deceive and defraud individuals. On every public service announcement, the FBI directs victims to file their information at the FBI’s www.ic3.gov reporting apparatus. But I want to stress the information in the IC3 has not been compromised, it’s just individuals who know they scammed someone is hoping they reached out to IC3 and further victimize them for more money.

Between December 2023 and February 2025, the FBI received more than 100 reports of IC3 impersonation scams.

Complainants report initial contact from the scammers can vary. Some individuals received an email or a phone call, while others were approached via social media or forums. Almost all complainants indicated the scammers claimed to have recovered the victim’s lost funds or offered to assist in recovering funds. However, the claim is a ruse to revictimize those who have already lost money to scams.

A recent example of the impersonation scheme variant indicates scammers create female persona profiles on social media networking sites and join groups for financial fraud victims, representing themselves as fellow financial fraud victims. Scammers then recommend actual victims reach out to 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.

Tips to 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 they 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.

I ask you all to share this information especially since this is Elder Fraud Awareness Month. We don’t want individuals to be re-victimized by scammers pretending to be someone they should be comfortable sharing information with. If we all tell one person, and they tell one person, we can make sure more people know how to stop this scam.

John Morales

Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso

Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud (CIF): What is “Pig Butchering” and What is the FBI Doing to Help Victims?

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Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud (CIF), commonly known by the disparaging term “pig butchering,” is a confidence-based investment scam where subjects target victims online and elicit a friendship or relationship prior to introducing a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment opportunity. Victims are coached to invest more and more money into what appears to be an extremely profitable platform, only to be unable to withdraw their funds.

This version of the confidence scam originated out of Southeast Asia (Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia), and most of the organized crime groups throughout Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and south America are targeting victims in the United States.

The FBI has launched Operation “Level Up” as a proactive approach to identify and notify victims of this scam to prevent further financial loss. Level Up was initiated in January 2024, with the support of agents from the FBI and the United States Secret Service. Sophisticated cyber techniques have enabled agents to identify active victims en masse. Several thousand victims across the United States were notified between 01/23/2024 and 12/31/2004. Because the investment phase of these scams last multiple months, the Level Up’s early notification efforts have likely saved victims significant financial harm and saved lives.

To show the impact of Operation Level Up, here are aggregated statistics to date January 2025.

  • Victims notified: 4,323
  • Estimated savings to victims: $285,639,9691
  • % of victims who were not aware that it was a scam prior to notification: 76%
  • Identified victims disseminated to foreign partners: 526
  • Victims referred to a Victim Specialist for suicide intervention: 42

We’d like to show examples of how Operation Level Up prevented victim loss:

  • Victim stated the FBI stopped them from liquidating their 401k to invest an additional $500,000.
  • Victim was in the process of selling her house to invest an additional $500,000.
  • Victim was going to use the platform to raise money for her cancer treatment.
  • Victim was in the process of getting a $400,000 loan to send to the scam.

What should a victim do if they think they are being scammed?
a. If you feel that you are a victim of a cryptocurrency investment fraud, immediately stop sending money and file a report with IC3 as soon as possible. Crime reports are used for investigative and intelligence purposes. Rapid reporting can also help support the recovery of lost funds.
b. Be aware of who you are communicating with online. If you met someone online or through an unsolicited text message and that person pitched an investment opportunity, beware: this is likely cryptocurrency investment fraud.
c. One of the most common tactics these criminals employ is a false sense of urgency or isolation. For this reason, the FBI urges the public to “Take A Beat” by resisting pressure to act quickly, pausing for a moment, and assessing the situation. It’s better to be safe than scammed.
https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-takes-action-to-protect-your-hard-earned-money


For more information about Operation Level Up and what to look out for, please visit fbi.gov/levelup and fbi.gov/scams.

John Morales
Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso

FBI El Paso Citizens Academy Welcoming Region Leaders to Apply: Six-Week Class Offers Connectivity, Education with Behind-the-Scenes View of the FBI

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EL PASO,TX—Have you wondered what the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigates locally and how you can become a more informed leader to help enhance community safety, regional security, and reporting of crime to the FBI? If so, the FBI El Paso Field Office’s Citizens Academy offers a unique experience for civil, business, religious, and community leaders residing or working within the El Paso region.
“The FBI Citizens Academy classes bring together a diverse group of leaders from multiple sectors who have a sincere interest in ensuring the people, business, and organizations they represent are better informed to guard against and report crime to ensure a safer future for everyone in the region,” Special Agent in Charge John Morales explains. “It’s an opportunity to have very candid, open conversations and build relationships with us and each other that ultimately help us all enhance our ability to protect our families and community.”
The FBI Citizens Academy, hosted by the FBI El Paso Field Office offers a unique educational experience for civil, business, religious, and community leaders. Participants attend one session each week, exploring a variety of federal criminal violations, jurisdiction, policy, task force collaboration, specialty teams, and more. Past classes have offered an in-depth exploration of the FBI’s investigative priorities including terrorism, counterintelligence, civil rights crimes, cybercrime, public corruption, and violent crime. All participants are invited to a graduation and an optional learning opportunity at the gun range with FBI firearms instructors to learn and reinforce gun safety and experience the weapons agents are assigned.
FBI Citizens Academy participants graduate with a better understanding of how the FBI El Paso Field Office fulfills its mission within the region and how it partners with law enforcement and the community to prevent violence and investigate crime. All graduates are encouraged to join the local FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association Chapter to continue education and partner in crime prevention to benefit their communities.
The 2025 Spring FBI Citizens Academy Class will be from March 27, 2025, to May 2, 2025. Nominations must be submitted by January 24, 2025. To nominate yourself or someone else to attend the 2025 Spring FBI Citizens Academy Class and learn more about the program, visit https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/elpaso/community-outreach. Candidates must be a recognized leader in their respective communities, live within the FBI El Paso Field Offices region, be at least 21 years old, consent to a limited background check, and agree to attend all scheduled sessions with no more than one excused absence.

Holiday Greetings from FBI El Paso

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Another year is quickly coming to a close. The end of the year brings no greater joy than the opportunity to express how grateful we are for our community and community leader partners. Time has come to spread holiday cheer and cherish time with our loved ones who have supported us all throughout the year.

Our office has worked closely with Black El Paso Voice and Ms. Monica Tucker to help provide educational information about how the FBI operates and how you can protect yourself from falling victim to the numerous schemes out there targeting your hard-earned monies. We have approached different platforms such as podcasts, social media to now include Instagram, community events such as the Juneteenth celebration, in-person roundtables, and of course, this monthly FBI column. We are always open to suggestions on how to reach a wider audience, we hope you will share the information with individuals you know.

As I continue to meet community partners, I look forward to strengthening partnerships, developing new ones, and continuing to share information until it hurts. We pledge to continue being a Champion of Diversity and hopefully inspire some of the readers to join in the mission of the FBI, even if it’s a simple as correcting someone passing along misinformation about us.

FBI El Paso pledges to help educate, intervene, and provide resources to those interested in learning more about how to protect oneself and their family members from the overwhelming number of scams/schemes and violent gang activity. We pledge to share information such as our arrest of Sinola-Cartel co-founder “El Mayo” Zambada and Joaquin “El Chapito” Guzman and what we are doing to protect our communities here in West Texas and across the nation.
On behalf of FBI El Paso, I wish Happy Holidays to all of you, and may 2025 be filled with happiness and success.

John Morales
Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso

What are Gore Groups and Why Are They Targeting Our Children?

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When I first heard about these groups, I couldn’t fathom what was occurring. What are gore groups, how are they targeting our children, and what is their ideology and why are they doing this? I’ve been in the FBI for over twenty years and worked crimes against children, I thought I had seen it all, but this information angered me. I believe parents, trusted adults, teachers, friends, caregivers, and grandparents need to be aware of this threat targeting the mental and physical safety our children.


Gore groups are a dual program threat for the FBI. They are classified as counterterrorism racially motivated violent extremist groups with online sexual exploitation and extortion of the children in our communities. These gore group actors build the perception of themselves as a gang or a cult. These actors are on popular online platforms such as Telegram, Discord, Minecraft, and Roblox. The sole purpose of these groups is to desensitize our children to extreme forms of gore, sexual and violent activities such as animal cruelty, beheadings, murders, suicides, self-harm, body carvings, in order to achieve the collapse of Western society through the degradation of social norms.
Gore groups are deliberately targeting minor victims on messaging apps to extort them into live-streaming acts of self-harm and producing child sexual abuse materials allowing the group members to control and blackmail victims in order to gain status within the group. Victims are extorted into sending images of self-harm, such as cutting themselves, or videos and images of “fansigning.”

“Fansigning” is when the subject pressure a victim to write or cut specific numbers, letters, symbols, or words onto their bodies and photograph them to send to the group. The subjects then train these minor victims on how groom other minors to ultimately lead to their extortion through blackmail. Thus, making victims into subjects. Many members have an end-goal of forcing the minors into committing suicide on live-stream for their own entertainment or their own sense of fame.


The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received hundreds of reports of minors extorted into hurting themselves in 2023, and they receive dozens each month. These numbers went up drastically from 2022.
Subjects are both in the United States and outside the US. Victims are everywhere and quickly becoming subjects themselves as they groom other minors. The groups target minors between the ages of 8 and 17 years old, especially LGBTQIA+ youth, racial minorities, and those who struggle with a variety of mental health issues, such as depression and suicidal ideation.


The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center issued a public service announcement on September 12, 2023, titled “Violent Online Groups Extort Minors to Self-Harm and Produce Sexual Abuse Material.” https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2023/PSA230912
Both WIRED and Washington Post have pushed out stories on these groups to provide awareness about these sadistic predators. On July 19, 2024, the United States Attorney’s Office Western District of Michigan put out a press release announcing a “Member of Violent Online Child Pornography Network Pleads Guilty to Sexually Exploiting A Child” Western District of Michigan | Member Of Violent Online Child Pornography Network Pleads Guilty To Sexually Exploiting A Child | United States Department of Justice
The FBI advises the public to take a number of precautionary steps, including:

  • Looking for fresh cuts, bruises, wounds, and scars in unusual patterns;
  • Looking for sudden behavior and appearance changes;
  • Being attentive to children wearing long sleeves or pants in unusual circumstances;
  • Monitoring children’s online activity and discussing the risks of sharing information and content; and
  • Running frequent online searches of family and children’s information to help identify and prevent the spread of personal information on the internet.

If you are worried about someone who might be self-harming or is at risk of suicide, please consult a health care professional or call 9-1-1 in the event of an immediate, life-threatening emergency.

John Morales
Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso

Can You See Yourself in the FBI?

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Over the past 18 months, former Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Downey and myself have shared what we’ve believed to be valuable information to help everyone protect themselves and their family members from common scams or have tried to introduce you to how the FBI works as far as recruiting, diversity, and transparency.
I wanted to personally invite the readers to join the FBI El Paso Field Office for their in-person recruiting event in El Paso on Friday, September 6, 2024, to encourage talented individuals from diverse backgrounds to explore the unique and fulfilling career in the FBI. Throughout FBI employees’ careers, law enforcement officials meet and work with individuals from all walks of life, so the FBI values varied skills, opinions, and perspectives among its employees.
The FBI is positioned stronger to accomplish our mission because of the diverse knowledge and experience of our employees. The variety of skills and expertise among those on our team strengthens our investigations and helps us find new and innovative ways to protect the community. It takes folks from all industries and cultures to accomplish the FBI mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution of the United States, and we look forward to sharing more about our work at this important event.
Those who attend the FBI El Paso recruiting event will have an opportunity to meet one-on-one with current FBI executives, special agents, intelligence analysts, linguists, IT systems, auto mechanics and other key FBI personnel for insight into the positions. In addition, many of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response components such as SWAT, Evidence Recovery Teams, Crisis Negotiations, Bomb Technicians, will be onsite to talk about their roles in FBI investigations and have their gear on display, FBI physical fitness advisors will be present to go over the FBI agent fitness test and applicant coordinators will provide guidance into the FBI application process.
If you are a college student or have a college student at home, we will have recruiters on hand to discuss the FBI’s 2026 Honors Internship Program, a summer paid internship for all our FBI locations across the nation. Learn more at fbijobs.gov.
There is no cost to attend, and attendees will not be required to submit a formal employment application following the event. But if you determine the FBI is the place for you, we will have computers set up so you can begin your application process, right then and there.

  • Event: FBI El Paso Diversity Recruitment Event
  • When: September 6, 2024, 3 – 6 p.m.
  • Location: UTEP – Natural Gas Convention Center


I hope you all can join us on the 6th and learn the FBI is only about Special Agents, we have a spot for anyone that has a desire to protect their nation and the communities they live in. What better way to learn about the FBI, than to come down and talk to individuals who may live next door to you about what they do.
If you can’t make it, call our Recruiter at 915-832-5000 or visit fbijobs.gov to see what benefits the FBI has to offer and what jobs are open across the nation.

John Morales
Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso

What Are Bitcoin ATM Scams and Why Are Scammers Telling You To Protect Your Money By Going To An ATM?

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The FBI is starting to see an increase in cryptocurrency being demanded by the scammers when they are targeting victims. Why? With the traditional money wire, victims had up to 72 hours to be able to stop payment on the wire. With the use of cryptocurrency, the scammers can escape with your money immediately leaving you with little hope of recovery. Is it happening here in El Paso? Yes, our office is seeing the sharp increase in this payment method and now there is a new scam scenario where victims are told to convert their monies into cryptocurrency in order to “protect it.”

Is there a legit reason for someone to send you to a Bitcoin ATM? The short answer is NO. Will someone from the government send you to a Bitcoin ATM? NEVER.

If someone calls and says you must act now because your money is at risk, you might listen if they’re convincing. They’ll scare you into keeping it a secret — even from your closest loved ones. Once they have you alarmed and alone, they’ll give you the solution to the problem they just created: “protect your money by moving it.” And that’s when they’ll send you to a Bitcoin ATM to “secure” your money. “Problem” solved? Not even close.

That’s because neither Bitcoin nor the ATM will protect your money. In fact, no cryptocurrency will. No matter what the caller says, there’s no such thing as a government Bitcoin account or a government digital wallet. There are no Bitcoin federal safety lockers. And only a scammer will give you a QR code to “help” you deposit your life savings in a Bitcoin ATM.

What they’re doing is trying to rush you into something you can’t reverse: giving your money to a scammer. So, if you get a call like this, remember:

  • Never move or transfer your money to “protect it.” Your money is fine where it is, no matter what they say or how urgently they say it. 
  • Worried? Call your real bank, broker, or investment advisor. Use the number you find on your account statements. Don’t use the number the caller gives you. That’ll take you to the scammer.
  • Report it. Tell your bank or fund right away. Especially if you moved money. Then tell the FBI at the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.  

 

I ask you all to share this information. If we all tell one person, and they tell one person, we can make sure more people know how to stop this scam. Their life savings will thank you.

John Morales

Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso

Texas Adults Surveyed Say They Want to Know More About the FBI

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Often, the FBI’s strategic communications goals include “increasing public awareness” about us and how we operate. Awareness is incredibly difficult to measure, but one method to do so is through surveys. For multiple years now, the FBI has conducted periodic surveying, through a third-party company, to 1) measure awareness, 2) identify interests, and 3) determine how people get information. These surveys also provide a continuous baseline in a few areas, including trust.

In a recent Morning Consult national-level public awareness survey conducted for the FBI:

  1. The majority of the public does not know how to report a tip to the FBI but are interested in learning how.
  2. The majority of the public would be interested in learning about nearly any FBI topic, but they are most interested in how to avoid becoming a victim of a crime or scam.

Texas adults surveyed said they were more interested in learning more about Human Trafficking, Violent Crimes, and Domestic Terrorism. They also wanted to see more information about how to avoid scams or being a victim of a crime, the services the FBI provides to victims of crimes, and crime trends and statistics. The lowest level of awareness continues to be sextortion, economic espionage, romance scams, counterintelligence, and healthcare fraud.

This information is very interesting to see what our communities are interested in, where they go for their information and what resonates the most with them. We will take this information to target our collective outreach and public messaging to ensure we maintain and grow the trust, 71% of the surveyed adults said they had in the FBI and reach the 63% of people who don’t know how to report a crime to the FBI.

If you are one of those who don’t know how to report a crime to the FBI, we can be reached 24/7 at 1-800-CALL-FBI or you can file an anonymous tip at tips.fbi.gov. The El Paso Field Office can be reached at (915) 832-5000.

We pledge to find other avenues to reach the different age demographics and urban/suburban/rural demographics to educate the public about the FBI and the resources we can offer.

John Morales

Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso

 

Tax Season Tax Scams

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Tax Season Stress to include Watching Out for Tax Scams

Tax scams are often as predictable as taxes themselves; they reappear each tax season with a slightly different spin, but the central theme is scammers posing as the IRS trying to trick people into paying or sharing personal information.

Thousands of people have lost millions of dollars and their personal information to tax scams. Scammers use the regular mail, telephone, and email to set up individuals, businesses, payroll, and tax professionals.

Here are a few of the most common tax scams and red flags to watch out for:

  • The IRS warns taxpayers to be on the lookout for a new scam mailing that tries to mislead people into believing they are owed a refund. The new scheme involves a mailing coming in a cardboard envelope from a delivery service. The enclosed letter includes the IRS masthead with contact information and a phone number that do not belong to the IRS and wording that the notice is “in relation to your unclaimed refund.”
  • Another tax scam to look out for is tax identity theft. This occurs when a scammer uses your government-issued identity number to file a tax return in your name and collect your refund. It can also be someone using your information to get a job. Consumers don’t usually realize they have been victims of tax identity theft until they get a written notice from the IRS saying that more than one tax return was filed, or they were paid by an employer they don’t know.
  • Email phishing scams appear to be from the IRS and include a link to a bogus website intended to mirror the official IRS These emails state, “You are to update your IRS e-file immediately.” The emails sometimes mention USA.gov and IRSgov (without a dot between “IRS” and “gov”).
    • Here is an example of an email phishing scam: “Received an  email telling me that after annual calculations of my fiiscal activity I was eligible to receive a tax return of $976.00. At the bottom it recommended using a prepaid card because sending funds does not support this card. Within the email was a link for a Tax Return Form.”
  • Traditional IRS impersonation scams start with a phone call and take two primary forms.
  • Here are some tips to avoid tax scams:
    • Only deal with trustworthy tax professionals and tax preparation services. Beware of ghost tax preparers who don’t sign your tax returns.
  • Remember the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text message, or social media to request personal or financial information.
  • Watch for bad grammar and odd punctuation when reading emails and letters claiming to be from the IRS.      
  • When in doubt, contact the IRS to confirm any contact you receive is legitimate.
  • If you become a victim of tax identity theft, contact the IRS at 1- 800-908-4490.

Experiencing fraud can often be both financially and emotionally devastating. I share these monthly columns with you to give you the awareness to be able to fight back against scammers. Please share this information to protect others in your circle.

John Morales

Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso

Election Security & Elections Fraud Crimes

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Election Security and Election Crimes

Election season is upon us. From early voting for Super Tuesday to the final elections on November 5, 2024. As contentious as the 2020 elections were, it’s all anyone will be talking about leading up to November.

Americans have a right to expect free and fair elections, and the FBI is committed to ensuring the integrity of the 2024 general elections by working closely with our state and local election officials, Department of Justice, and our intelligence community counterparts. We continue to face very real threats from those who seek to undermine our elections through malicious cyber activity against election infrastructure; foreign influence operations; election-related crimes, like campaign finance violations, voter fraud, and voter suppression; and threats to election workers.

The FBI’s 2024 election security plan includes cross-programmatic coordination between the Criminal Investigative Division, Cyber Division, Counterintelligence Division, and Counterterrorism Division and their operations and intelligence efforts to combat the broad range of threats to

U.S. elections.

In addition, FBI El Paso has coordinated and participated in extensive scenario-based trainings and working groups with local and state officials, public representatives, and U.S. Intelligence Community partners to educate, prepare, and facilitate a whole-of-society response to all election- related matters.

While individual states have primary responsibility for conducting fair and free elections, the FBI plays an important role in protecting federal interests and preventing violations of our constitutional rights.

Federal election crimes fall into three broad categories: campaign finance crimes, voter/ballot fraud, and civil rights violations.

The FBI has jurisdiction to investigate election-related crimes when:

  • the ballot includes one or more federal candidates;
  • the alleged crime involves official misconduct by a polling or election official;
  • the alleged activity pertains to fraudulent voter registration;
  • an ineligible person votes in a federal election (e.g., all non-citizens and some convicted felons);
  • interstate facilities are used to violate state elections laws in non- federal elections; or
  • the activity involves federal campaign finance

The FBI does not investigate:

  • voter facilitation activities (e.g., giving rides to polling places, offering time off to vote, or providing items of minimal value, like stamps, for absentee ballots);
  • violations of state campaign finance laws—unless a misappropriation of campaign assets occurred through mail, wire, or other fraud covered by a federal statute;
  • distributing inaccurate campaign literature or making false claims about oneself or an opponent;
  • campaigning too close to the polls;
  • a candidate trying to convince an opponent to withdraw from a race;
  • honest mistakes by polling place workers; or
  • lack of immediate election results while ballots are

Rooting out corruption in all levels of government is one of the FBI’s top criminal investigative priorities. That effort begins with the right to vote. Americans have a right to expect fair, open, and honest elections: it’s a cornerstone of our democracy. A confident public is more likely to vote, trust the outcome of the election, and know its vote made a difference.

The FBI is ready, willing, and able to investigate these crimes, but we need the public’s help. The FBI encourages citizens to report election crimes and threats targeting elections workers to the FBI El Paso field office at 915- 832-5000, online to tips.fbi.gov, or by telephone at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225- 5324).

John Morales

Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso