A new phone scam in the US is tricking people into handing over money even when they contact the FBI to check the caller’s identity.
Criminals are using real federal agents’ names and disguising their phone numbers, giving potential victims details that appear to check out.
The problem comes when someone rings a genuine FBI office and asks whether the agent works there. Staff may confirm that they do, but that doesn’t establish whether the employee actually made the call or not.
A sensible safety check can leave the person with false reassurance that the scam is actually something legitimate.
The FBI’s Newark office in New Jersey has warned that victims have reported criminals impersonating FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Secret Service agents to accuse someone of committing a crime and demand payment to remove charges — with huge losses reported.
One fraudster even staged a background resembling an FBI office for a video meeting, complete with a desk, an FBI seal and a man in a suit.
Impersonating federal agents is actually something of a decades-old scheme, but the bureau described these current tactics as an ‘insidious new twist’ in its recent warning. They make it particularly difficult for people to establish whether or not they’re dealing with a genuine official.
The callers use a technique known as spoofing to make their phone numbers appear to belong to federal agencies’ field offices. That means the number displayed on a victim’s screen can look legitimate while concealing who it is that’s actually calling.
Some people who couldn’t reach anyone at an office assumed that the authentic-looking number was enough to trust the caller, the FBI said.
Others received confirmation that the named employee existed. Neither check proved that the person contacting them was that agent.
The financial stakes extend well beyond the reports from New Jersey too. Between January 2025 and July 2026, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 61,000 complaints about law enforcement or government impersonation scams, with reported losses exceeding $1.6 billion.
Those figures cover the broader category of impersonation fraud, rather than just the tactics described by the Newark office.
A separate nationwide alert, issued on September 17, sets out the threats that criminals use to get people to pay.
A common approach is to accuse someone of committing a crime or being connected to one. The caller threatens arrest, prosecution or imprisonment unless they pay to remove the charges or supposedly help an investigation into the ‘real’ criminals.
Other callers claim that someone has missed jury duty or a court appearance, or that they need to renew an expiring passport or license.
Foreign nationals and international students might be threatened with extradition or even cancellation of their home country’s passport.
The demands can come with some pretty aggressive language and instructions to keep the conversation secret from relatives, friends, banks and police.
Scammers may also keep victims on the phone throughout the fraud. They request payments through methods including prepaid cards, couriers, bank transfers and cryptocurrency.
The Newark office’s first instruction for protecting yourself is direct: ‘Never send money to anyone claiming to be a federal law enforcement agent.’ A real employee’s name, an official-looking number or a convincing video background doesn’t change that advice.
To verify a caller, you’re advised to look up the agency’s official phone number yourself and contact it independently. Don’t use a number that the caller supplies or rely on the one displayed on your screen.
Explain that you believe you may be the target of a scam and want to confirm whether a genuine agent is contacting you. The question needs to address the contact itself, rather than simply whether someone with that name works there. That’s the distinction that the impersonators are exploiting.
If you can’t reach anyone at a local field office, the FBI advises that you should contact the agency’s main office over in Washington DC. Most federal law enforcement agencies have toll-free 800 numbers and you can also call 1-800-CALL-FBI to speak directly with a real FBI representative.
For scams involving an online video meeting, the bureau asks people to try and take photos or record the video if possible. You can submit that evidence through tips.fbi.gov.
Anyone who’s already fallen victim should immediately stop contact with the scammers and notify their financial institution to try and safeguard their accounts and funds.
The nationwide alert also advises reporting the incident to local law enforcement and filing a complaint at ic3.gov.
You should also keep any and all financial records and communications, including texts and emails. Your report should – if possible – include any available contact details for the scammers and information about payments they requested or received.