🚔 Digital Arrest Scam: Police Never Arrest by Video Call

By Muhammad Imran · Reviewed for accuracy against Federal Trade Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and AARP guidance · Last updated November 3, 2026.

Your phone rings. The caller says he is a police officer, or an FBI agent, and your name has come up in a criminal case. He asks you to join a video call. On screen is a man in uniform, sitting in what looks like a police station or a courtroom. He shows you a document with an official seal and tells you that you are under digital arrest. If you hang up, he says, officers will come to your door. Pay a fine now, and the case goes away. None of it is real. There is no such thing as a digital arrest in the United States, and no police officer or court can arrest you over a video call. This guide shows you how the scam works and what to do.

This is one of the fastest growing scams in the country. AARP lists digital arrest as one of the five scams to watch for in 2026. The FBI says it received nearly 61,000 complaints about law enforcement and government impersonation scams between January 2025 and July 2026, with reported losses of more than $1.6 billion. The Federal Trade Commission says people reported losing $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, including about $920 million to government impersonators, up from $789 million in 2024. Those are reported losses. Most victims never report at all.

What a digital arrest call is

The digital arrest scam is a government impersonation scam with a video call at its center. The caller pretends to be a police officer, an FBI agent, a customs officer, or foreign police. He says you are named in a criminal investigation, often money laundering or a fraud tied to an account in your name. Then he keeps you on a video call while he "investigates" you. AARP calls it a terror-based scam that holds a person digitally captive: the scammers interrogate you on video for hours, sometimes days, until you pay. The payment is the whole point. Everything else is theater to keep you frightened and on the line.

The scam first spread in India, where callers impersonated the police and the Central Bureau of Investigation. AARP reports that digital arrest scams and related cybercrimes in India nearly tripled from 2022 to 2024, according to the Indian government. The same playbook is now running in the United States, aimed at Americans of every background, including immigrants and international students threatened with extradition or a cancelled passport. AARP reports that in September, a retired doctor in Hyderabad died from a heart attack after enduring nearly 70 hours of digital arrest. That is how long these calls can last when no one interrupts them.

The call, step by step

Here is how it usually runs.

1. The call. An unsolicited call, often from a number that looks local. The caller says he is a police officer, an FBI agent, or an official from the FTC. He says your name, or an account in your name, is tied to a crime in another country. He may read out a badge number or a case number. The FBI says scammers spoof real agency phone numbers and use real employee names.
2. The move to video. He asks you to join a video call, usually on WhatsApp or Skype. On screen is a man in a police uniform, in front of a flag or a courtroom backdrop. The FBI warns that scammers now use artificial intelligence to appear as law enforcement and government officials on video calls. The video is the trap: a uniform and a courtroom feel more real than a voice alone.
3. The documents. He shows you papers on camera: an arrest warrant, a court order, a case file with your name on it. They are fake. Scammers use AI to make forged documents and deepfake videos, according to ISACA, an information technology association quoted by AARP. A document shown on a video call is not evidence. Real court orders are never delivered over a video call.
4. The captivity. He tells you not to hang up and not to tell anyone. He may keep you on video for hours, and AARP reports cases that lasted days. He may ask you to turn on your camera or share your screen. The secrecy is deliberate: while you cannot talk to family, your bank, or the real police, the scam can continue. The FBI says scammers refuse to speak to anyone but the victim and urge victims not to tell family, friends, banks, or the police about the call.
5. The payment. Then comes the demand. Pay a fine, a security deposit, or bail right now, or officers will arrest you. The payment is always in a form that is hard to reverse: cryptocurrency, gift cards, a wire transfer, cash to a courier, or cash into a crypto ATM. The FBI lists exactly these methods in its warning. Any demand for one of them is proof, by itself, that the caller is a scammer.
6. The second call. Days later, a new caller may offer to help you get the money back, for a fee. That is a recovery scam, run by the same gang or another one. Real agencies do not charge you to recover stolen money.

The version that starts with your phone number

One version of this scam starts differently. The caller claims to be from the Federal Trade Commission and says a phone in your name is being used for scams in another country. He reads a fake badge number, threatens to deactivate your phone number, transfers you to a fake police officer, collects your ID, and then invents an arrest that only a security deposit can stop. The FTC published a consumer alert about this exact script on October 22, 2026, and said plainly: none of this is true, it is all a scam. That arrest threat is the same digital arrest trick. Our guide to the fake FTC phone call covers this version in detail.

What the callers actually say

These are typical wordings, not messages copied from a real victim. If a call matches one of these shapes, treat it as a scam.

• "This is Officer Sharma from the FBI. Your bank account was used for money laundering. You are under digital arrest. Do not disconnect this call." A real officer would never say this.
• "We have an arrest warrant with your name on it. You can see it on your screen. If you cooperate, we can settle this today with a security deposit." A warrant shown on a video call is a prop.
• "Do not tell your family or your bank. This is a confidential investigation. If you tell anyone, you will be arrested immediately." Secrecy is the scammer's best tool.

Why it feels so real

Careful people fall for this scam, because it is built to defeat the checks careful people use. An arrest threat, a deadline, and an order not to tell anyone shut down clear thinking, and the longer you stay on the call, the harder it is to step back.

The video. Seeing is believing, and the scammers know it. A uniform, a flag, and a courtroom set make the call feel official. The FBI says scammers use AI to appear as law enforcement officials on video calls.

Your real details. The caller may know your name, your address, or your bank. Those details usually come from data breaches, not from a police file.

The fake verification. If you doubt the story, the caller may tell you to look the police department up yourself. He tells you exactly what to search, and the number you find leads back to people in the scam. The FTC says it feels like you are verifying the story, but it is all part of their scheme. The only safe check is one you do yourself, after you hang up.

The foreign police version. Some victims are targeted by callers pretending to be foreign police, or American officials working with them. The FBI says these scammers threaten extradition or the cancellation of a home country passport, wear fake uniforms, and use mock government offices. Between January 2025 and July 2026, the FBI received 1,809 complaints about this version, with losses of more than $140 million. The threats are hard to check because they involve officials overseas. That difficulty is the point.

What real police and courts never do

The FBI puts it in one sentence: law enforcement and government authorities will never contact the public by phone or text to demand any form of payment or to request personal or sensitive information. The FTC says the same about its own staff. A real FTC employee will never ask you to send money, or connect you to someone who does. A real FTC employee will never threaten to disconnect your phone. A real FTC employee will never tell you to keep your conversations secret. A real FTC employee will never text you a photo of their employee ID to prove who they are.

And the courts: arrest warrants and court orders are not delivered through phone calls, emails, or social media. A real arrest happens in person, under a warrant signed by a judge. No court takes bail or fines over the phone, by gift card, by crypto, or through a courier. If a caller asks for any of these, the caller is not the police.

Hang up, then check

If you are on a call like this right now, do this in order.

1. Hang up. You will not be arrested for ending the call. No agency can arrest you for hanging up on a scammer.
2. Do not call back any number the caller gave you. Do not tap any link they sent.
3. Tell someone. Call a family member or a trusted friend and say what happened. The scam depends on secrecy.
4. Check independently. If you are still worried, look up the agency yourself on its official website, or call your local police non-emergency number. Then log in to your bank directly and look for anything you do not recognize. Never use the search words the caller gave you.
5. If you shared information or sent money, act now. Follow the steps below right away.

If the caller keeps calling, block the number. If anyone comes to your door asking for cash, do not open it. Call 911.

What to do if you already paid or shared information

Do not panic, and do not wait.

• Sent money: call your bank or card company right away on the number on the back of your card and ask about a recall or chargeback. If you sent crypto, contact the exchange at once, but crypto is very hard to reverse. If you sent a wire, ask your bank about a recall. If you handed cash or gold to a courier, call your local police immediately. Then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov. Our guide on what to do after sending money walks through each payment type.
• Shared your Social Security number, bank details, or ID: go to IdentityTheft.gov for a free recovery plan, or call the FTC at 1-877-438-4338. Place a free credit freeze at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Our identity theft recovery guide walks through every step.
• Shared your screen or gave remote access: turn off your computer and call your bank. If you gave them a password, change it from a different device and turn on two-factor authentication. Our tech support scam guide explains the cleanup.
• Keep everything: screenshots, the phone number, payment confirmations, receipts, and any documents they sent. Do not delete anything until you have reported it.

How to report a digital arrest scam

File a report even if you lost no money.

• FTC: ReportFraud.ftc.gov, the main place to report this scam.
• FBI: ic3.gov, especially if crypto or a courier was involved. Include phone numbers, payment details, and screenshots.
• Your local police: especially if a courier came to your door.
• Your carrier: forward scam texts to 7726 (SPAM).
• If you are 60 or older: the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311 can help, and the free AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360 can talk you through the next steps.

How to help a family member who got the call

If a parent or grandparent calls you, frightened, while the scammers are still on the line or after they paid, here is how to help.

• Stay calm, do not blame them, and tell them to hang up now while you are on the phone with them. Nothing bad will happen because they hung up. These calls are designed by professionals to frighten careful people, and shame keeps victims silent.
• Stay on the phone while they call the bank. Help them write down what happened while it is fresh: the number, the names used, what was paid, and how.
• Help them report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov, and place a credit freeze if they shared personal information. Our identity theft recovery guide walks through the freeze step by step.
• Check in the next day. The scammers may call back. Agree on one rule together: no government agency will ever call about money, and the answer is to hang up and call a family member.

Prevention checklist

Share these six rules with your family now.

• Never trust a call that starts with an arrest threat.
• Never stay on a video call with a stranger who claims to be police.
• Never pay a fine, bail, or security deposit by crypto, gift card, wire, or courier.
• Never share your ID, Social Security number, or bank details with a caller.
• Never use a phone number, link, or search term a caller gives you.
• Agree on the family rule now: if anyone claiming to be police calls about money, hang up and call a family member.

Frequently asked questions

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Sources: Federal Trade Commission, The FTC is not calling to deactivate your phone number (consumer alert, October 22, 2026) and "FTC Data Show People Reported Losing $3.5 Billion to Imposter Scams in 2025" (June 2026); Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint Center, Public Service Announcement 260917, "Scammers Impersonating Law Enforcement and Government Officials in Fraud Schemes" (September 17, 2026), at ic3.gov/PSA/2026/PSA260917, and the FBI IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report (April 2026), report at ic3.gov; AARP, Five of the Biggest Scams to Watch for in 2026 (published December 19, 2025; updated April 23, 2026). Last updated November 3, 2026.