FTC Impostor Calls? Yes, It's a Scam — Hang Up

Your phone rings, and the caller says they are from the Federal Trade Commission — the FTC. They tell you your money is at risk, or that it has been tied to a crime, and that you need to act right away. It sounds official, and it sounds urgent. The FTC issued a warning about exactly this call in October 2026: it is not the FTC at all. It is a scammer running a script, and the giveaway is simple — the real FTC never asks for money.

What Arrives

The call starts with someone claiming to be from the FTC. They say your money is in danger, or involved in a crime, and that they are going to transfer you to a police officer who can help.

The person you are transferred to poses as that police officer. To sound legitimate, the fake officer gives you badge numbers — made-up numbers, offered as proof that the call is real. Then comes the real point of the call: you are told to transfer your money to them as a "security deposit," supposedly to keep it safe while things get sorted out.

Every part of that setup — the transfer, the badge numbers, the pressure to move fast — is there to keep you on the line and move your money before you have time to think.

The Red Flags

1. The caller claims to be the FTC. The call opens with a government name and a frightening claim: your money is at risk, or it has been involved in a crime.
2. You get transferred to a "police officer." A real FTC call does not hand you off to an officer who then handles your money.
3. Badge numbers are offered as proof. Anyone can say numbers out loud. A badge number read over the phone proves nothing — it is part of the costume.
4. You are told to transfer money as a "security deposit." This is the demand the whole call is built around. Moving your money does not protect it — it hands it to the scammer.
5. Everything has to happen right now. The pressure to act fast is deliberate: a person who pauses and checks is a person the scam cannot fool.

The One Rule That Settles It

The real FTC never asks for money. It never demands payment. It never asks you to move or transfer your money anywhere. And it never threatens you to make you pay. If a caller claiming to be the FTC asks for money in any form — a payment, a transfer, a "security deposit" — the call is a scam, no matter how official it sounds and no matter what badge numbers you are given.

What To Do Instead

• Hang up. Do not stay on the line, and do not follow any transfer instructions. You do not owe a caller your time, and hanging up costs you nothing.
• Verify on your own. If the call worried you, look up the real number yourself — for the agency, or for your bank — and call that number. Never use a number the caller gave you.
• Never move money because a caller told you to. A real police officer will never ask you for a "security deposit," and no real agency keeps your money safe by having you send it away.

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