WASHINGTON: The FBI has warned about a growing phone scam in which fraudsters impersonate federal law enforcement officers and use real agents’ names and spoofed phone numbers to make their calls appear genuine.
According to the FBI’s Newark office, scammers have posed as agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Secret Service, accusing victims of being linked to criminal activity and demanding money to avoid arrest or other legal consequences.
What makes the scheme particularly deceptive is that victims may independently verify that the named agent actually works for the agency. However, that does not confirm that the person who contacted them was the genuine agent.
The scammers can also make incoming calls appear to originate from official field-office numbers. In at least one reported case, a fraudster reportedly used a video-call background designed to resemble an FBI office, complete with an agency seal.
The FBI said its Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 61,000 complaints involving law enforcement or government impersonation scams between January 2025 and July 2026, with reported losses exceeding $1.6 billion. The figure covers the broader impersonation category and not solely the specific tactics highlighted in the Newark warning.
The FBI has advised the public never to send money to someone claiming to be a federal law enforcement officer. Anyone receiving such a call should independently look up the agency’s official contact number and verify the communication directly.
