The FBI warned Sept. 17 that scammers are impersonating law enforcement and government officials to extort money or personally identifiable information from victims. Image: Growtika – Unsplash The agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received nearly 61, 000 complaints of law enforcement or government impersonation scams between January 2025 and July 2026, with losses exceeding $1. 6 billion. Scammers primarily use unsolicited phone calls, but also texts and emails. They may spoof phone numbers, email addresses and employee names. The FBI said scammers can accuse victims of crimes, missed jury duty or court dates, or expiring licenses while threatening arrest, fine, prosecution or other consequences. The FBI said scammers use artificial intelligence (AI) to appear as law enforcement and government officials during video calls, adding the appearance of legitimacy. The FBI’s warning about AI-assisted impersonation comes as Interpol has reported a financial advantage for AI-enabled fraud. The Financial Times reported Sept. 14 that Interpol recently found AI-enabled fraud was 4. 5 times more profitable than traditional fraud. The FBI said government and law enforcement authorities will never contact the public by phone or text to demand payment or request personal or sensitive information. They also “will never request payment via prepaid cards, cryptocurrency, or courier.” The FBI said, verify callers and their credentials using official contact information, and carefully check URLs before clicking to ensure they match the agency’s official domain. Fact-Checked by Irfan Ahmad. Read next: • Businesses are using AI for the calls customers want humans to handle • How advertising turns our insecurities into profit — and how you can resist the manipulation
FBI Warns of AI-Assisted Scams Impersonating Government Officials as AI Fraud Shows Higher Profitability
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