Report
EN
Scam DatabaseScam NewsBlogStoriesGuidesRecoveryResourcesAboutDonateSign in
All briefings

Daily brief — July 23, 2026

Fake FBI/IC3 Recovery Agents and FTC Impersonators Active Now

Scammers are impersonating the very agencies victims turn to for help — while toll-text smishing and AI-run romance-investment cons keep grinding on.

Published July 23, 2026

Key points

  • FBI/IC3 (July 20 alert) warns criminals are impersonating its own recovery staff — including AI deepfake video and fake IC3 websites — to re-target past scam victims.
  • FTC warns of a live wave of callers/texters impersonating agency staff, convincing people to 'protect' their money by withdrawing or wiring it.
  • Toll-payment smishing texts remain widespread across states; links, urgency, and unusual sender numbers are the giveaway.
  • AI-enhanced romance-investment ('pig butchering') scams continue to drive large losses; AVASC is seeing the same pattern in current reports.
  • A common thread across all four: pressure to act immediately and a request to move money via wire, crypto, or gift card.

Breaking: FBI warns scammers are posing as its own fraud-recovery unit

On July 20, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued an updated public alert about criminals impersonating IC3/FBI personnel to re-target people who already lost money to a scam. The update describes an ongoing fraud scheme where criminal scammers are impersonating FBI personnel facilitating IC3 complaints to deceive and revictimize individuals. Reporting on the alert notes the scammers have added new tools since the original 2025 warning: the bureau says the scammers have picked up new tricks, including AI-generated video of FBI officials and spoofed versions of the IC3 website itself. Victims report first contact via email or a phone call, while others were approached, or observed an advertisement via social media or forums.

This lines up exactly with what AVASC's own database has flagged this period: prior scam victims being contacted by fake recovery firms and people impersonating the FBI/IC3 promising to recover lost funds for an upfront fee. The real FBI does not operate this way — it will never ask you to pay to get your money back.

FTC impersonators are convincing people to 'protect' their money by draining it

The FTC issued its own consumer warning this month after a wave of reports about callers and texters posing as FTC staff. The FTC warns of scammers impersonating the agency, convincing people to empty their bank accounts under the guise of protecting their funds, using tactics such as spoofing the real FTC phone number, referencing real FTC employees and sending pictures of FTC badges. The agency's own site is blunt about the tell: a real FTC employee won't text you their photo ID to "verify" their identity.

This is part of a broader government-impersonation surge journalists and banks are also seeing right now. One recent account described a caller posing as a bank fraud-protection agent keeping a target on the phone for over an hour, and separately, a Hawaii Island resident lost money to a caller posing as the FCC who claimed his phone number was tied to a money-laundering case before transferring him to a fake D.C. police officer, communicated through WhatsApp. AVASC's database shows this matches the top-reported category we're tracking: government-impersonation callers demanding gift cards, wire transfers, or crypto to "protect" an account.

Still active: toll-text smishing and AI-run romance-investment scams

Toll-payment text scams remain a steady nationwide problem. The FCC explains the pattern plainly: the scam texts say the recipient has an unpaid toll or owes a balance that will be suspended without immediate payment, and the sender's number may be spoofed to look like it's from a toll company. State attorneys general continue flagging the same red flags — an unsolicited text sent from an unusually long phone number with a link that is likely shortened or scrambled — matching AVASC's own tracked cluster of look-alike toll payment pages harvesting card data.

Separately, romance-investment ("pig butchering") scams enhanced by AI continue to escalate. Analysts tracking the trend note the single most reliable rule is: if your introduction to a crypto "opportunity" came through a romance or friendship that started in your messages, treat it as a scam until proven otherwise, and don't trust a video call alone since deepfakes can fake a face and voice. This mirrors what AVASC is seeing: AI-run conversations funneling victims into fake crypto platforms with five- and six-figure losses per victim.

Protect yourself

  • No legitimate government agency (FBI, FTC, SSA, IRS, police) will ever ask you to withdraw cash, buy gold, or move money to 'protect' it — hang up and verify independently.
  • If someone claiming to be from the FBI/IC3 offers to recover money you already lost for an upfront fee, it's a scam; the FBI does not charge to help victims.
  • Don't click links in unexpected toll or 'unpaid balance' texts — go directly to the toll agency's known website or app instead.
  • Treat any online relationship that pivots to a crypto 'investment opportunity' as a red flag, even if it includes a video call — deepfakes can convincingly fake both voice and face.
  • Report scam attempts to the FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov) and the FBI's IC3 (ic3.gov); reporting quickly can help freeze funds in some cases.

Sources

Think you've been targeted by a scam?

Reporting takes just a few minutes. It helps us warn others, strengthens the scam database, and connects you to recovery resources.

Report a scamRecovery resources
This briefing is public-safe intelligence: it surfaces only indicators and patterns that are already public, alongside protective guidance — never a playbook for scammers. AVASC is not a law firm, investigator, or government agency, and this is not legal or financial advice. If you've been targeted, you can report a scam or explore recovery resources.