FBI warns of scam using real agents' names and spoofed federal phone numbers

Mixed · 2The FBI's Newark office in New Jersey has warned of what it called an 'insidious new twist' on a decades-old fraud in which callers pose as FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and Secret Service agents. 1 2 Mixed · 2The scammers spoof the phone numbers of genuine federal field offices and give the names of real agents, so the call looks legitimate on the victim's screen. 1 2 Mixed · 2When victims phone the real field office to check, staff may confirm that the named agent works there. That confirms employment, not that the agent made the call, and can leave victims falsely reassured. The FBI said some victims who could not reach anyone at an office assumed the authentic-looking number was enough. 1 2

Mixed · 2The notice, released on 29 September according to the Daily Mail, also described one fraudster who staged a video call to look like an FBI office, with a desk, an FBI seal and a man in a suit. 1 2 Mixed · 2The FBI says the callers commonly accuse victims of a crime and demand payment to avoid arrest or prosecution. Other pretexts include missed jury duty or an expiring passport or licence. Foreign nationals and international students may be threatened with extradition or cancellation of their home passport. 1 2 Mixed · 2Scammers may use aggressive language, keep victims on the line and tell them to keep the call secret from family, friends, banks and police. They demand payment by prepaid cards, couriers, bank wires, cryptocurrency or cash put into cryptocurrency kiosks. 1 2

Mixed · 2An FBI notice dated 17 September said the Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 61,000 complaints between January 2025 and July 2026, with losses above $1.6 billion. Metro notes these figures cover law enforcement and government impersonation fraud broadly, not only the tactics the Newark office described. The Daily Mail presents the Newark alert as an update to that notice. 1 2 Mixed · 2The FBI's advice is never to send money to anyone claiming to be a federal law enforcement agent. People should look up the agency's official number themselves rather than use one the caller gives or the one on their screen, and tell whoever answers they may be the target of a scam and want to know whether a real agent is contacting them. If they cannot reach a local office, they can contact the main office in Washington DC. 1 2 Left · 1Metro adds that people can call 1-800-CALL-FBI and, for video-call scams, should photograph or record the call if possible and submit it at tips.fbi.gov. Victims should stop contact, notify their bank, keep financial records and communications, and file a complaint at ic3.gov. 2