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Daily brief — July 24, 2026

FBI and FTC Sound Fresh Alarms on Impersonation Scams

Federal agencies just re-upped warnings about criminals posing as the FBI and FTC themselves, while toll-text scams and AI-driven romance-investment schemes keep churning nationwide.

Published July 24, 2026

Key points

  • FBI's IC3 updated its warning on July 20 about criminals impersonating FBI/IC3 staff to re-target people who already reported fraud losses.
  • The FTC is separately warning that scammers are spoofing its real phone number and impersonating employees to convince people to move money 'to protect it' — the FTC says it never does this.
  • State AGs (including Michigan, this month) continue warning about nationwide fake toll-payment texts with urgent, scrambled links.
  • AI is supercharging romance-investment ('pig-butchering') scams with deepfake voices/video and fake trading apps, driving very large per-victim losses.
  • A common thread across today's warnings: scammers are impersonating the very institutions people trust to help them — government agencies and law enforcement.

FBI updates warning: scammers are impersonating the Bureau itself

On July 20, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center issued an updated public service announcement about criminals posing as FBI or IC3 personnel to "deceive and revictimize individuals" — often targeting people who already reported a fraud loss. This lines up closely with what AVASC's own database has been logging: fake fund-recovery outfits and callers claiming to be FBI/IC3 staff contacting prior scam victims and promising to recover lost money for an upfront fee.

The pattern is a second-wave con — it preys specifically on people already grieving a loss, using their desperation to get money back against them.

FTC: 'we will never call and tell you to move your money'

Separately, the FTC has been actively warning the public about scammers impersonating its own employees — spoofing the agency's real phone number, citing real staff names, and even texting fake FTC badge photos to convince targets to empty their bank accounts "to protect it." The agency states plainly that it will never threaten you, say you must transfer money to protect it, or tell you to withdraw cash or buy gold and give it to someone. This mirrors AVASC's active tracking of government-impersonation calls, where fraudsters posing as IRS, SSA, FTC, or police demand immediate payment via gift card, wire, or crypto — still the single most-reported scam category to federal regulators.

Still running: toll-text scams and AI-boosted crypto romance cons

State authorities continue sounding alarms on the nationwide unpaid-toll smishing wave — Michigan's Attorney General issued a fresh consumer alert this month describing scam texts and fake court notices claiming recipients owe toll debt, warning signs include unsolicited texts from unusually long numbers with shortened or scrambled links. AVASC's own incident data shows this exact pattern still active as of early July, with look-alike payment pages harvesting card data.

Meanwhile, reporting this year describes pig-butchering rings increasingly using AI — deepfake voice and video, and even automated chat — to run romance-investment cons at scale, funneling victims into fake crypto trading apps. Industry tracking has found crypto scams generated more than $17 billion in losses in 2025, with AI-enabled scams generating far more revenue per operation than traditional fraud. AVASC's database shows per-victim losses in these cases frequently reaching five and six figures.

Protect yourself

  • No legitimate government agency will ever tell you to move money 'to protect it,' withdraw cash, buy gold, or pay by gift card or crypto — that instruction is always a scam.
  • If someone claiming to be from the FBI, FTC, IC3, or a 'fund recovery' service contacts you after a prior scam and asks for an upfront fee, hang up — the FBI does not operate this way.
  • Don't click links in unexpected toll or court-notice texts; go directly to your state toll agency's official site or app to check your balance.
  • Verify any unexpected call or text by contacting the organization yourself using a phone number or website you already know is real — never one provided in the message.
  • Be skeptical of online relationships that pivot toward crypto investing, especially with polished apps promising guaranteed returns; walk away if you're asked to pay a 'fee' or 'tax' to withdraw funds.
  • If you're a past victim being contacted again, report it to the FTC and file with IC3 — but never pay anyone upfront who claims they can recover your lost funds.

Sources

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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.