The FBI is warning about a sophisticated scam in which the agency's Boston phone number is spoofed.
Victims are told their identity was used to open an account to buy illegal firearms and they are tricked into sharing personal information.
A caller posing as an FBI agent may instruct the victim to continue communicating through an encrypted messaging application.
The FBI Boston Division, which covers Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, said last year it received close to a thousand complaints that resulted in nearly 30-million-dollars in losses.
(Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP / Getty Images