Narrator: The FBI’s Chicago Division is sounding the alarm about a new breed of government-impersonation scam in which bad actors role-play as special agents or their associates to scam people out of their money and personally identifiable information.

These scammers have emptied victims’ coffers of tens of millions of dollars.

Investigators believe that transnational organized crime actors—located in the United States and abroad—are orchestrating this criminal effort at its highest levels. These gangsters are believed to control a trove of lower-level impersonators scattered around the globe.

The proceeds generated by the scam’s elaborate lie are believed to fund a vicious cycle of organized crime activity.

On this episode of our show, we’ll discuss how this scheme works, identify red flags you can watch out for, and explain how you can report special agent impersonators to the Bureau if they attempt to target you or a loved one.

This is Inside the FBI.

***

Narrator: Government-impersonations scams aren’t a new trend. But the particular scheme we’re discussing here is fraudsters pretending to be bank employees, FBI agents, and U.S. Department of Justice personnel to get victims to hand over their information and cash.

As Supervisory Special Agent Dwayne Golomb, who leads the FBI Chicago team investigating the scheme, explains...

SSA Golomb: ...if someone’s out there acting as one of us, we consider that a threat to the public.

Narrator: The scheme plays out in stages.

First, a fraudster pretending to be a bank employee contacts a victim. As fellow case agent Zach Overby explains...

Special Agent Zach Overby: ...an individual may receive a phone call from a number that appears to be a financial institution, and someone from that financial institution claims that there was an unusual charge.

That would be pretty concerning to you if you’re unaware of that situation.

Narrator: The first fraudster may pass a victim onto other criminal actors, who may also play the roles of Justice Department employees.

But each victim is eventually transferred to someone pretending to be an FBI agent.

This fake agent then invites the victim to connect with them via a video-conferencing platform and proceeds to put on a show.

According to Overby, these actors appear in front of a convincing-looking backdrop featuring an official-looking Justice Department seal while decked out in their would-be FBI finest—such as a suit or a raid jacket.

Overby: They may have a gun that is displayed with credentials, and everything that you may see would lead you to believe that you’re talking to a real FBI agent.

Narrator: Then, the scammers scare victims into thinking they need to fork over hefty amounts of cash or sensitive personal information to avoid criminal charges or jail time.

The fraudsters’ attention to detail was enough to successfully swindle former law enforcement personnel and ex-lawyers, among other victims. All told, the scam’s reach has stretched across the United States.

The scheme landed on FBI Chicago’s radar after a fake special agent targeted a man in the division’s area of responsibility. What the fraudster didn’t know was that his would-be victim had deep ties to the law enforcement community.

Still, Golomb said, the victim went "several steps with these impersonators” before becoming alarmed. Fortunately, the savvy citizen immediately alerted the Chicago Police Department to the incident. Our Chicago PD partners, in turn, referred his tip to the FBI.

***

Narrator: This scheme’s impacts on people’s financial and physical safety makes it particularly insidious.

Golomb: We knew we had to get in front of this group—they were acting quickly, they were isolating these people.

Narrator: For this reason, the FBI Chicago case team is taking a two-pronged strategy to tackling this scam—simultaneously working to investigate the scheme and to disrupt it in real time.

Golomb: My agents were creative in identifying these victims while this criminal activity was happening and my agents were able to get in front of a number of these victims and prevent that loss. We wanted to save these innocent people this heartache, and so we became proactive.

Narrator: For example, one victim was so effectively swayed by this scheme that he physically traveled to a bank to make a sizeable wire transfer to the scammers. Fortunately, FBI Chicago personnel were able to reach the victim in real time before his funds could fall into criminal hands.

And, Golomb says, the scammers took note of these successful disruptions.

Golomb: And a result of that, I believe: The criminal network saw this happening, started to close ranks a bit, started to call my investigative agents pretending to get updates on these cases.

Narrator: Investigators believe the scammers spoofed victims’ phone numbers to try and get insights that could help them adapt new means to make their criminal efforts fly under the FBI’s radar.

Golomb: But my agents, smart enough, realized this very quickly and shut that down.

I think we prevented millions and millions of dollars from being sent to these criminal networks.

Narrator: But these piecemeal victories haven’t taken the case team’s eyes off of the ultimate prize.

Golomb: We will stop at nothing to bring all these perpetrators to justice.

***

Narrator: You can protect yourself from this and other agent-impersonation scams by being eagle-eyed and trusting your gut.

First, don’t be afraid to do your homework. If someone who claims to be an FBI agent tries to connect with you and you’re not 100% confident that they are who they say they are, contact your nearest Bureau field office. Visit fbi.gov/fieldoffices to locate their contact information, reach out to them and explain the situation, and vet the so-called agent’s identity.

And if you’re on a call with one person and they transfer your call to a second, unfamiliar person whose identity you can’t verify...

Overby: ...you should always take action to verify and confirm the identity of those who you’re speaking with—independently.

Narrator: Next, get to know what FBI agents don’t do.

FBI agents don’t reach out to victims or suspects via video-conferencing platforms. If they request this type of virtual meeting, they’re likely a fake.

Likewise, FBI agents don't send official emails from addresses that didn’t end in “@fbi.gov.” An alleged email from the Bureau that comes from an unusual address is most likely fraudulent.

And federal authorities will never call or email a victim or suspect of a crime and ask for money or personally identifiable information. If you or someone you know gets a call, text, or email from a person purporting to be a federal law enforcement agent, don’t share your personal information and don’t pay up, whether they ask for cash, gift cards, or any other form of compensation.

Lastly, Overby warns, if a would-be agent tries to isolate and burden you with an overwhelming level of urgency, they may be a scammer.

Overby: They may tell you you have to sign an agreement and not speak to anyone about this investigation.

Narrator: If your conversation is heading in this direction, it’s best to stop it in its tracks and reach out to the authorities.

***

Narrator: If you or a loved one believe you may have been victimized by this scam—or if you suspect that you’ve already been in talks with one of the fraudsters behind it—you should contact the FBI immediately by dialing 1-800-CALL-FBI—that’s 1-800-225-5324.

You can also submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

When contacting us, you should mention any information that you can get from the perpetrators of this scam, including (but not limited to): names, social media handles, phone numbers, and email addresses.

You should also share any codes the scammers might’ve given you to check into or access any websites.

Also be sure to share any screenshots or screen recordings that captured the scammers’ faces and/or voices with the investigators. Lastly, if they gave you any instructions for submitting payments related to the scam, you should share those with the Bureau, too.

You can visit fbi.gov/scams to learn more about common frauds and scams, including the hallmarks of these schemes and how to report them to the proper authorities, including—but not limited to—the FBI.

***

Narrator: This has been another production of Inside the FBI.

You can follow us on your favorite podcast player, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. You can also listen to our show via the myFBI Dashboard app. Learn more at fbi.gov/dashboardapp.

And to subscribe to email alerts to learn more about new episodes, visit fbi.gov/podcasts. On behalf of the FBI's Office of Public Affairs, thanks for tuning in.