The 1.6 billion call
Fake police and government callers took $1.6 billion, and they always tell you to keep it secret
WHAT CHANGED?
On September 17 the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center put a number on a scam that has been working the phones for two years. Between January 2025 and July 2026 it received nearly 61,000 complaints from people contacted by someone posing as a police officer or a government official. Those cases account for more than $1.6 billion in losses.
The alert breaks out the variations too. Fake jury-duty calls alone produced 6,833 complaints and nearly $36 million in losses. Calls about an expiring passport or driver's license produced 496 complaints and $348,000. And in the newest version, scammers use artificial intelligence to appear on a video call as officials.
WHO IS AFFECTED?
- Anyone with a phone. The FBI says the contact usually arrives as an unsolicited call, though texts and emails are used too.
- Anyone who would find an official-looking number convincing. Scammers copy real agency phone numbers, email addresses, employee names and credentials.
- Anyone who holds a professional license. Medical practitioners were targeted in 3,322 of the complaints, with $37 million in losses.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The money moves because of pressure, not because of a clever story. The caller accuses you of a crime, says you will be arrested unless you pay, and keeps you on the line with an urgent, aggressive tone. Then comes the part that matters most. The FBI says these callers refuse to deal with anyone but you, and urge you not to tell family, friends, your bank or law enforcement about the call.
That instruction is the distinction worth remembering. A real investigator has no reason to ask you to keep a call secret from your own bank. A scammer has every reason, because a teller is the person most likely to stop the payment.
The second tell is how the money is collected: prepaid cards, a courier sent to your door, a wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or cash fed into a crypto kiosk. No court and no federal agency takes payment that way. The FBI puts the rule plainly. Law enforcement and government authorities will never contact members of the public by telephone or text message to demand any form of payment, or to request personal or sensitive information.
WHAT TO DO
Hang up, then call back on a number you look up yourself.
That single move defeats the whole scheme. Everything the caller controls, including the number on your screen, the name, the badge and even the face on a video call, stops mattering the moment you dial a number they did not give you. Look up the court or the agency yourself and ask whether anyone there is trying to reach you. Nobody is obliged to stay on a call.
If money has already gone, stop all contact, call your bank, tell your local police, and file a report at ic3.gov. Write down the phone number, any account or cryptocurrency address you were given, and the amounts, while the details are fresh.
And tell someone. Secrecy is the scammer's working condition, so one sentence to a family member or a bank teller often ends it.
What else goes unclaimed
Separately from the phone calls, a quieter kind of money goes unclaimed every year, because the programs that pay it are opt-in and no notice arrives to say so. State unclaimed-property programs hold forgotten accounts and refunds. LIHEAP helps with heating bills. Many states run a property-tax break for older homeowners that has to be asked for.
The Benefits Checklist is a 69-page guide to 11 programs like these, with the 2026 income limits and a 50-state phone directory of the number to call in each state.
See the 11 programs and their 2026 limits in The Benefits Checklist.
SOURCE
Written by Ellen Marsh
Retirement Money Brief is educational information only — not financial, tax, or legal advice. We will never ask for your password, bank login, or Social Security number by email.