Walpole Police Warn of 'FBI' Fine Scam

The Walpole Police Department is warning residents of an Internet scam known as the "FBI MoneyPak" scam.

"We are starting to receive numerous reports of people falling for an Internet scam known as the 'FBI MoneyPak' scam," Walpole police said in a statement.

Here's how the scam works, according to WPD:

HOW IT WORKS: You are browsing the Internet on your computer when a window pops up on your screen (view the photo in the gallery above).

The popup screen is a warning, and it has the FBI logo on it. The warning says you were breaking a federal law on the Internet, so the "FBI" has locked your computer, and is going to fine you. You try to close the window, but you can't. Your computer is completely locked down. The warning says you need to pay a fine before your computer will be unlocked.

HOW THE SCAM IS SUCCESSFUL: This scam is successful for the same reason all other Internet scams are successful, a lack of understanding of how the Internet works. I have spoken to people who have fallen for this, and they believed this message was legitimately from the FBI because it "looked real." It is important for people to understand that any computer savvy person could make a message like the one above in 10 minutes. Just because there is an FBI logo, does not mean it is from the FBI.

But how did they lock down your computer? Only the FBI would have power like that, right? Simple, you have a computer virus.

Here is an analogy. Your phone rings right now, and a man on the other end says he is an FBI agent. He says you need to pay him a $200 fine. If that happened, you would laugh and hang up on him. Yet when the exact same thing happens over the Internet, people pay the money. This is why Internet scams work. For some reason everyone believes what they read on the Internet.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF: The most important thing here is common sense. Let me assure you, if you broke a federal law, the FBI isn't going to tell you about it over a computer message. They'll come to your door.

Most importantly, the #1 rule of protecting yourself from a scam; never, ever, ever, wire money to anyone. Every Internet scam you will ever see ends with the same line, "please wire your money to me." They will tell you a thousand things over the internet, over email, over the phone, it doesn't matter, they all end with you wiring money to them.

WHAT IF IT HAPPENS TO ME?: Turn off your computer. Bring it to a computer expert, have them clean it up, and buy antivirus software for them to load on it before you bring your computer back home.

The best course of action here is to educate yourself and your family. Money sent to these scams; it's gone. These scams are run from overseas, and they purposely have you wire the money because once it's sent, you can't get it back. Your best bet is to report the situation to www.IC3.gov (a division of the real FBI), because they are the only ones who can pursue these cases. Then do everything you can to educate yourself and your family.