Did someone claiming to be from the federal government contact you with some type of threat that requires you to pay the government money via wire service, credit card, gift card, online payment service, payment app or cryptocurrency?

Don’t pay the money. It’s an imposter scam.

The United States government is not calling, emailing or texting to threaten you about some supposedly illegal activity. It is not trying to force you to a pay fine immediately, take away your Social Security number or recommend you move money from your financial accounts to another place to make it “safer.”

A U.S. government agency that is dedicated to guarding citizens from unlawful business activities is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). As a “watchdog” department of the federal government, “The FTC’s mission is protecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition through law enforcement, advocacy, research, and education.” The FTC helps protect consumers from scams, including impersonation of government agencies by crooks, and annually it collects large amounts of data from millions of consumer complaints on illegal or unethical behavior by companies or individuals.

According to the FTC’s data of citizen complaints that is summarized in the comprehensive government report the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024, the number one fraud category was imposter activity. The report stated that “These scams include people falsely claiming to be a romantic interest, the government, a relative in distress, a well-known business, or a technical support expert to get a consumer's money.”

The number of fraudsters clai.ming to be government representatives increased so significantly in recent years that the FTC took special action to combat the crime. On April 1, 2024, the FTC’s new rule on government and business impersonation became active. The rule gives the agency stronger tools to fight and deter scammers who impersonate government agencies and businesses, and it enables the FTC to file federal court cases to get money returned to scammed consumers and civil monetary and other penalties against criminal violating the rule.

Here is what a government agency should not to be saying in an email, text or phone call—and if you encounter any of this messaging, it is a warning sign of a scam in action targeting you

Below is brief summary of some warning signs of government imposter scams. Much of the information below is shared from sources such as the Federal Trade Commission, the federal Social Security Administration, the United States Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and their websites have advice that may be helpful. If someone is posing as a government representative and trying to trick you, here is what they might say:

• That some activity of yours is illegal and has been reported to a U.S. government law enforcement agency such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency or some other federal or state government agency, including law enforcement organizations.
• The message or caller tries to induce panic and a sense of urgency by saying that it is an emergency and you must act now to fix the situation.
• You must stay on the phone line—or quickly respond to email or text—and must pay to remedy the situation now or there will be dire consequences soon.
• That government agents have been alerted by your actions and are already on the way to your location to arrest you, but by paying a fine or sharing account information now, the agents will not show up at your door.
• That you may face time in prison if you do not pay a fine now.
• That your Social Security number is being revoked or has been hijacked by an identity thief.
• You must visit a website to pay a fine or purchase cryptocurrency or gift cards to pay the government.

What to keep in mind about conventional government behavior

• American federal or state government agencies (either) do not attempt to threaten, extort, frighten or otherwise bully citizens by email, text messages or phone calls into paying fines or moving money to different accounts. There are laws and internal government departmental policies that prevent agencies from engaging in this type of inappropriate behavior.
• The government usually does not demand immediate payment, and cryptocurrency and gift cards are not usually recognized by the government as legal tender to pay bills or for other legal transactions in the United States.
• Most government agencies are large bureaucracies with extensive processes and policies that employees must follow—procedures that take time and rarely require immediate action. Citizens’ responses to government communications also take time to be created, sent and received; so back and forth communications and actions between citizens and governments are likely to take days, weeks and months instead of “right now.”
• Government agencies cannot take suspend or away U.S. Social Security numbers, which are usually issued at birth and are generally permanently assigned to one person and are active throughout their life. The federal Social Security Administration has extensive information about avoiding Social Security-related scams and has a site with a form for reporting them.
• The U.S. government is required to conduct much of its official communications with citizens using hard-copy letters sent through the U.S. Postal Service via ground mail (also known as “snail mail” because it takes days to arrive) that will come to a physical mailbox. Email—and especially phone calls—are not used often by the government to conduct official business, including being used to resolve some type of problem with a citizen. Some government agencies may send regular email notification messages, such as an annual account reminder from the Social Security Administration or account registration communications from Medicare.

Here are some key federal and state government agencies where you should be able to report scams and ask for help

1. If you sent cash through U.S. Postal Service mail, then contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and ask if they can intercept the envelope or package and return it to you.
2. For missing checks sent through the U.S. Postal Service but cashed by anyone other than the intended payee, report suspected check fraud to the USPIS at uspis.gov/report.
3. If someone has already scammed you, collect and report the details to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP, 1-877-ID-THEFT or online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
4. If someone has stolen your identity and is passing themselves off as you, then visit the Federal Trade Commission’s IdentityTheft.gov.
5. The U.S. Department of Justice has a list of government agencies where different types of fraud can be reported.
6. You can report internet crime to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
7. Fraud can also be reported to state and local government authorities; usually to the state’s attorney general’s office.
8. You may also contact your local consumer protection office for assistance.

Want to know more about financial scams and protecting yourself and your accounts? Delta Community has information and suggestions that may help

More information on protecting yourself and financial accounts is available from free, monthly Delta Community Financial Education Center webinars on many different money and security-related topics. Please visit the Financial Education Center's Events & Seminars page to register for its no-cost, on-demand webinars or in-person workshops.

Delta Community’s blog and security posts have more detailed recommendations on handling online personal security:

• You should know how to tell if someone’s stolen your identity and how to prevent it.
• Would you like to know how to begin recovering from identity theft?
• Always be careful when making digital payments.
• Avoid fake check scams.
• Learn check-writing tips.
• How to hang up on imposter scams, part 1.
• How to hang up on imposter scams, part 2.
• Did you know that only scammers get paid with gift cards or cryptocurrency?
• Think for a minute, and then don’t click 'unsubscribe' from spam emails and texts—managing spam.
• Learn how to make your mobile and online payments safer.
• How to protect yourself online while working or learning from home.
• Why to question your security questions.
• ​How to secure your home network.
• How to get a stronger password and use a password manager.
• Be on the lookout for phishing, smishing and vishing attacks.
• Be vigilant for spoofed phone calls.
• Harden your email account against an attack.