Imposter scams: fake banks, government agents and "fraud departments"

The scammer borrows someone else’s authority. They say they are your bank’s fraud team, Amazon, the Social Security Administration, the IRS, the FTC, a sheriff’s office, Microsoft, or a grandchild in trouble. Then they create a problem only they can fix, and a reason you must act now and tell nobody.

In 2025, the FTC received over 1 million reports of imposter scams, with over $3.5 billion in reported losses (FTC testimony, March 2026). It has been the most reported fraud type every year since 2020. The 2024 Data Book shows which disguises were used:

Source: FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024. Romance and tech support scams are imposter scams too, and have their own guides: romance scams and tech support scams.

The FTC analysed reports from older adults who lost $10,000 or more to business and government imposters. Almost all started with one of three stories (FTC Data Spotlight, August 2025):

1. “Someone is using your account.” A call or text from your “bank” about suspicious activity, or from “Amazon” about a purchase you did not make.
2. “Your identity is linked to a crime.” A supposed government agent says your Social Security number was used for drug trafficking or money laundering.
3. “Your computer has been hacked.” A pop-up that looks like it is from Microsoft or Apple, with a number to call.

Each story ends the same way: to protect your money, clear your name or catch the criminals, you must move money to a “safe” account, withdraw cash, buy gift cards, or feed cash into a Bitcoin ATM. The callers often hand you from one fake official to another, for example from “Microsoft” to a fake FTC investigator.

The numbers have climbed fast. Reports from older adults who lost $10,000 or more to these scams went from 1,790 in 2020 to 8,269 in 2024. In 2024, 41% of those victims said it started with a phone call, and 33% paid with cryptocurrency, mostly through Bitcoin ATMs.

• They contacted you. Real fraud teams do call, but they never ask you to move money to protect it.
• They want an unusual payment. Gift cards, wires, crypto, a Bitcoin ATM, a QR code, gold bars or cash picked up by a courier.
• They tell you to keep it secret, even from bank staff, or to lie about why you are withdrawing cash.
• They keep you on the phone while you drive to the bank or the ATM, so nobody calmer can talk you out of it.
• Caller ID matches the real number. Caller ID is easy to fake, so a matching number proves nothing.
• They know things about you. Your address, the last four digits of your card, or your Social Security number can come from data breaches and people-search sites.

Reducing what is known about you helps too. Scammers buy details from people-search sites, and you can remove yourself from data broker sites for free.

Cash deposited into a crypto ATM goes straight to a wallet the scammer controls, and cannot be reversed. The FTC found that reported losses at these machines topped more than $65 million in the first half of 2024 alone, with a median loss of $10,000, and that about 86% of people who lost money this way were caught by a government, business or tech support imposter (FTC Data Spotlight, September 2024). People 60 and over accounted for about 71% of the losses.

Scammers have called the machines “safety lockers”. Nobody legitimate will ever ask you to put money into one.

1. Stop all contact. Do not answer further calls from the “investigator” or “fraud team”.
2. Call your bank or card issuer on the number on your card. Ask them to stop or recall a wire or transfer, dispute a card charge, and flag the account.
3. Gift cards: call the company that issued the card (the brand on it), say it was used in a scam, and ask for a refund. Keep the card and the receipt.
4. Crypto: contact the exchange or ATM operator you used and ask them to freeze the transaction.
5. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and IC3.gov. The FBI’s Recovery Asset Team can sometimes freeze recent large transfers.
6. If you gave your Social Security number or account logins, use IdentityTheft.gov, freeze your credit and change those passwords. Our guide on what to do if your identity is stolen has the full order.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice.