What should you do if a caller who looks like the FBI asks you for money?

The FBI’s Honolulu office warned on November 2, 2026 that criminals are spoofing real field-office numbers and posing as FBI, DEA and Secret Service agents — even staging fake federal offices on video calls. Caller ID proves nothing: hang up, look up the real number yourself, and never pay.

Your phone rings, caller ID shows a real FBI field office number, and a calm voice says you are in trouble unless you pay right now. Short answer: hang up, and do not send a cent. On November 2, 2026, the FBI’s Honolulu office warned about a sophisticated variation of the law-enforcement impersonation scam: criminals pose as FBI, DEA and Secret Service agents, spoof the official phone numbers of real field offices, and use the names of actual and fictitious agents.

In one reported case, they even appeared on a virtual meeting platform in front of a background staged to look like a federal office, with official-looking decor and a person in business attire. Caller ID can be spoofed, so a matching number proves nothing. Why it matters: the scam borrows real authority — a genuine office number, a real name, a convincing set — and adds urgency so you pay before you think.

Everything about it is built to stop you doing the one thing that defeats it: hanging up and checking for yourself.What to do if a call like this reaches you:1. Never send money or personal information to anyone claiming to be a federal officer. Real law enforcement and government agencies will never call or text demanding payment or personal information, and they will never ask for prepaid cards, cryptocurrency, or payment by courier.2.

Hang up and verify it yourself: look up the agency’s publicly listed number on your own — never use contact details the caller gave you — and call back, saying you may be a scam target.3. Check any web link carefully for the real .gov domain; look-alike domains are a tell.4. Caught them on a video meeting?

Save screenshots or video if you can, and submit them at tips.fbi.gov, or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.5. Already paid or shared information? Stop all contact, alert your bank right away, file a local police report, and report it at ic3.gov.Common mistake: calling back the number on your caller ID to “check.” That is the spoofed trap — type the real number in yourself from the agency’s official .gov site.Ad’s take: A badge on a screen and a real-looking number are just costumes now.

Hanging up on a real agent costs you nothing; paying a fake one can cost you everything.