Security Alert

Update: Fake Police and Government Officials Are Stealing Billions

1 min read October 1, 2026

Fake officials use threats, spoofed numbers, convincing documents, and even AI video. Learn the PAUSE signs and how to verify safely.

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A caller, text message, or video call appears to come from the police, the FBI, Social Security, or another government agency. The person may know details about you, show convincing identification, or make the phone number look official.

Stop and verify it yourself. The FBI says government and law-enforcement impersonation scams have produced nearly 61,000 complaints and more than $1.6 billion in reported losses since January 2025.

PAUSE signs in this scam

  • P — Pressure: They demand immediate action to avoid arrest, fines, or losing your money.
  • A — Authority or alarm: They pretend to be an officer or official and may use spoofed phone numbers, badges, documents, or AI-generated video.
  • U — Unusual requests: They demand cryptocurrency, gift cards, cash, gold, or a payment delivered by courier.
  • S — Secrecy or separation: They order you not to tell family, your bank, or local police.
  • E — Examine independently: End the contact and call the agency using the number on its official website.

Safest response: Hang up. Government agencies do not demand payment by gift card, cryptocurrency, cash courier, or wire transfer to avoid arrest.

Learn all five PAUSE warning signs →

What to do if someone contacts you

  1. Do not click links, share verification codes, or send money.
  2. Save the message, phone number, email, or payment instructions.
  3. Look up the agency’s official number yourself and ask whether the contact was real.
  4. Report the attempt at IC3.gov.

Caller ID, official-looking documents, and even a familiar face on a video call can be faked. The safest habit is always to end the unexpected contact and begin a new one through an independently verified number.

Source: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, September 17, 2026.