Scammers impersonate cops, use arrest threats to extort victims
Scammers are posing as police officers and federal agents, threatening arrest unless victims pay up, the FBI warns.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) updated an alert it first issued in 2022, citing “losses totaling more than $1.6 billion” between January 2025 and July 2026.
According to the FBI, most complaints involve a caller who accuses the victim of committing or being connected to a crime, then threatens “arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment” unless the victim pays to remove the charges or assist in an investigation against the “real” criminals.
Other callers accuse the victim of skipping jury duty or missing a court date, claiming a fine or an arrest warrant is coming unless payment is made right away. The FBI logged 6,833 complaints tied to this version of the scam between January 2025 and July 2026, with losses “totaling nearly $36 million.”
A smaller group of callers claims the victim’s passport, driver’s license, or professional license is expiring and demands payment to renew it.
“Scammers will use a variety of approaches while impersonating these officials, such as using urgent and aggressive tones, refusing to speak to or leave messages with anyone other than the targeted victim, keeping victims on the phone for the duration of the scam, or urging victims not to tell family, friends, financial institutions, or law enforcement about the call,” the FBI noted.
Payment demands usually involve prepaid cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or cash handed to a courier. Some callers spoof real government phone numbers and names, including IC3’s own.
“Scammers may tailor their tactics for specific types of victims,” the agency wrote. Medical practitioners have been told their license is expiring or was used in a crime, with scammers threatening to revoke the license unless the practitioner pays to protect it.
Immigrants, foreign nationals, and international students have also been targeted. Callers posing as foreign law enforcement or foreign diplomatic officials based in the US threaten victims with extradition or cancellation of their home country’s passport.
The FBI says some scammers “wear fake police uniforms and use mock sets of official government facilities” to make the threat look convincing, and notes these calls are hard to verify since they often involve unknown officials overseas.
The use of AI is evident in some cases, giving scammers another tool to fool their victims.
The FBI warns that law enforcement and government officials will never call or text demanding payment or personal information, and will never ask for payment through prepaid cards, cryptocurrency, or a courier.
“Never give your personal information to anyone without verifying the person is who they say they are. Ask for credentials and use official, publicly available information to contact the government or law enforcement agency to verify the caller and their credentials; do not use contact information provided by the person contacting you,” the FBI advises.
