Fake police, jury duty, and warrant calls

The Scam

A caller, usually by unsolicited phone call but sometimes by text or email, claims to be from a US or foreign law enforcement or government agency, often with a spoofed real phone number, employee name, or credentials. They accuse you of a crime and threaten arrest, prosecution, or prison unless you pay to remove the charges or help investigate the "real" criminals. Other versions say you missed jury duty or a court date and there's a warrant out unless you pay, or that your passport, driver's license, or professional license is expiring. Callers use urgent, aggressive tones, keep you on the phone, and tell you not to tell family, friends, your bank, or police. According to the FBI, some scammers use AI to appear as officials on video calls, and some impersonating foreign police wear fake uniforms and use mock government office sets. Between January 2025 and July 2026, the FBI's IC3 received nearly 61,000 complaints of law enforcement or government impersonation scams, with losses of more than $1.6 billion.

The Targets

Anyone, with tailored versions aimed at medical practitioners (fake license threats), members of ethnic communities, foreign nationals, and international students in the US (fake foreign police threatening extradition or passport cancellation).

Red flags

• A call or text from "police" or a "government official" demanding payment or personal information
• Threats of arrest, a warrant, a fine for missed jury duty, or losing a license or passport unless you pay now
• Being told to stay on the line and not tell family, friends, your bank, or police
• Payment demanded by prepaid cards, courier, bank wire, cryptocurrency, or cash put into a crypto kiosk
• Links to sites that look official but end in .com or another lookalike instead of .gov

Your Move

• Hang up. Law enforcement and government agencies won't call or text you to demand payment or personal information
• Verify by contacting the agency yourself using official, publicly listed contact details, not the number or link the caller gave you
• Never pay with prepaid cards, crypto, a crypto kiosk, or a courier pickup
• If you paid or shared information, stop all contact, call your bank right away, file a report with local police, and file a complaint at ic3.gov

More steps for any scam link: I clicked a scam link. What now?

Still circulating?

The FBI's September 2026 warning describes these schemes as ongoing and widespread; it updates a 2022 alert.

Related sources

• The Register — FBI: Fake cop and government impersonation scams cost victims $1.6B (Sep 18, 2026)
• Pennsylvania Attorney General: warning on sheriff imposters and crypto ATM scams (Oct 29, 2026)
• Honolulu Star-Advertiser: FBI warns Hawaii residents of scams invoking federal authorities, spoofing field office numbers (Nov. 2, 2026)