¡¡ ¡¡WASHINGTON, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned the public of an e-mail fraud on Friday,saying an e-mail generated with the subject line "FBI Investigation" is fictitious and its origin is being investigated.

    E-mails with the subject line "FBI Investigation" and implying they originated from the FBI requested the recipient's assistance by purchasing merchandise via the Internet, the FBI said in a statement posted on its Web site.

    "The FBI would never direct someone to expend personal funds in furtherance of an investigation," the statement said.

    The agency also warned the public about an e-mail purportedly from the FBI with the subject "Your IP was logged." The e-mail, which warned Internet users about their illegal downloading of movies and software and said they were under FBI investigation, was a fake, the FBI said.

    The FBI "does investigative violations of Intellectual Property laws," but "does not investigate or notify persons under investigation as outlined in the e-mail," it said.

    The FBI has issued similar alerts in the past about spam e-mail fraudulently claiming to be from its Internet accounts, which it said enticed the recipient to open the e-mail's attachment containing a virus. Enditem