Overview
- The FBI's Newark office says fraudsters pose as FBI, DEA and Secret Service agents by falsifying caller ID and using names of real employees to make calls look authentic.
- The bureau warned that calling a field office to confirm an agent's employment can give false reassurance because staff can verify someone works there but cannot confirm who placed the call.
- The FBI updated its guidance after a nationwide alert and a Sept. 29 Newark notice, with the earlier Sept. 17 alert noting that IC3 logged nearly 61,000 impersonation complaints and more than $1.6 billion in losses from January 2025 to July 2026.
- Scammers pressure victims with urgent threats, secrecy demands and requests for payment by prepaid cards, couriers, bank wires, cryptocurrency or cash at crypto kiosks, often targeting foreign nationals and students.
- The FBI says people should never send money to anyone claiming to be a federal agent, independently call official agency numbers such as 1-800-CALL-FBI, preserve video evidence when possible, and report incidents to tips.fbi.gov or IC3.