FBI issues warning as crooks ramp up emergency data request scams

The FBI warns of a rising trend (2023–2024) in fraudulent Emergency Data Requests (EDRs), where criminals use compromised government email accounts and urgency tactics to trick U.S. businesses into releasing PII. The advisory cites past use by groups like Lapsus$ and growing criminal tutorials, highlights a foiled fake MLAT to PayPal, and urges organizations to verify legal codes, scrutinize signatures/logos, conduct callbacks to originating authorities, and build relationships with FBI field offices; attackers often pair this tactic with infostealers, RATs, and social engineering.