The FBI is warning every American with a phone about a sophisticated new twist on federal agent impersonation scams that has already drained more than $1.6 billion from victims.
Scammers are posing as FBI, DEA, and Secret Service agents, spoofing real agency phone numbers, and introducing themselves with the names of actual federal officers, a combination that makes the calls look legitimate and hard to check.
Daily Mail reported that the FBI Newark office released the updated notice on September 29, building on an earlier alert posted September 17, after victims in New Jersey described the scheme in detail.
The bureau said the fraud has run for decades. The new tactics, it warned, make it extremely difficult for people to confirm they are being targeted before money leaves their accounts.
An earlier FBI notice covering January 2025 through July 2026 recorded nearly 61,000 complaints about this impersonation scam. Losses topped $1.6 billion.
Those numbers are not abstract. They reflect families, students, and workers who handed over cash, wires, prepaid cards, or cryptocurrency because a caller sounded official and the number on the screen matched a real federal agency.
The FBI put the core warning in plain terms.
"never send money to anyone claiming to be a federal law enforcement agent"
According to the FBI, criminals open with the names of real agents. When a skeptical victim calls the field office to check, the person who answers confirms that the named agent does work there. That single fact is enough to lower defenses.
The bureau described the trap directly.
"They introduce themselves using the names of real federal agents. When victims call these field offices to confirm the agent’s identity, the person who answers verifies that the agent does, in fact, work there,"
Confirming employment is not the same as confirming the call. The agent on the payroll did not place it. The scammer did.
In other cases, victims never reach a live person at all. They still trust the contact because the caller ID shows a genuine agency number. Spoofing does that work for the crooks.
One fraudster went further and staged a video call to look like an FBI office, desk, FBI seal, man in a suit. The set dressing is theater. The demand for money is the point.
The script is aggressive on purpose. Callers accuse the target of crimes. They push for fast payment to avoid arrest or prosecution. They insist on speaking only to the intended victim, keep the person on the line, and press them to hide the call from family, friends, banks, and real law enforcement.
Urgency and isolation are the tools. Once those land, the payment instructions follow.
The agency listed the common channels.
"The scammers demand payment through a variety of methods, including prepaid cards, couriers, bank wires, cryptocurrency, or cash inserted into cryptocurrency kiosks,"
A parallel pitch claims a passport, driver’s license, or professional license is expiring and needs an immediate renewal fee. Same goal. Different story.
The FBI said scammers also zero in on Americans from different ethnic communities, foreign nationals, and international students in the United States.
In those cases, the impersonators pose as foreign law enforcement or U.S.-based foreign diplomatic officials. The threats shift to extradition or cancellation of a home-country passport. Fear of losing legal status or the ability to travel does the rest.
The Newark office summarized the New Jersey reports this way.
"Victims in New Jersey have reported criminals posing as FBI, DEA, and Secret Service agents, a scheme that has existed for decades."
And it flagged why this version is harder to shake off.
"The new twist involves tactics that make it extremely difficult for potential victims to verify whether they are being targeted."
If someone claiming to be a federal agent contacts you, hang up and start fresh. Look up the agency number yourself. Do not use a number the caller provides.
When you reach a field office, say clearly that you believe you may be the target of a scam and want to know whether a real agent is trying to reach you. The FBI’s guidance is specific on that point:
"Tell the person who answers that you believe you may be the target of a scam and want to confirm whether a real agent is contacting you,"
If the local office does not pick up, contact the agency’s main office in Washington, D.C. Real federal agents do not demand prepaid cards, crypto drops, or courier cash to clear a criminal case.
Lawful people should not have to run a secondary investigation every time a badge is invoked on a phone screen. Scammers know most Americans still respect federal authority, and they are monetizing that trust at industrial scale. Stay skeptical, keep your money where it is, and make the crooks prove nothing, because the only thing they can prove is how fast a spoofed number empties an account.