When This Kind of 'Cop' Calls, You Should Call 911

On the other side of the line, the commanding voice of an officer urgently tells you bad news. Whether you’ve missed jury duty, have an outstanding warrant, or are in some other scary nightmare legal situation, they tell you that you owe money and they want it immediately. Anything will do: gift cards, crypto payments, wire transfers, they don’t care so long as they get their thousands of dollars by the end of the call.

Most likely, it isn’t real, but in the moment, it feels real, and so unsuspecting people give their hard-earned money to a scammer posing as a law enforcement agent. It happens a lot, says Matthew Wernz, the director of the Southwest Region office of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Fraudsters posing as trusted officials conduct an imposter scam, which Wernz says is the most common type of scam, with a strong lead in.

“This is an issue we’re hearing about constantly,” he said.

In hindsight, it may be easy to see these calls as obviously fraudulent, but Wernz says scammers are incredibly conniving and experts at developing a sense of panic.

“It can be really hard as a consumer to get a call like this and to maintain your composure,” he said. “Scammers are endlessly clever, and they're always following the headlines, and we all have to be on the lookout for scams.”

Wernz says no target is entirely immune from a good scammer and that he’s even heard of professional financial advisors who fall for especially clever government imposter scams. In law enforcement officer scams, fraudsters might call from a spoof phone number that traces back to a local agency. Especially tricky scammers might even identify themselves as a real police officer with a badge number they’ve obtained through public records.

As a general rule, law enforcement will never call you demanding money or personal information, and if you have doubts, you can always call them directly to verify if they’ve been attempting to contact you.

“Our message to the public remains the same: a member of the Dallas Police Department will never call or message you to say you owe money,” a DPD spokesperson said in an email. “If it feels off, end the communication and report it.”

The spokesperson said they were aware of one official report of a suspect posing as a department member and demanding money, but the department has been warning Dallasites of ongoing imposter scams since February. The Sheriff’s department confirmed more reports, especially relating to jury duty, and ballparked scam-heavy weeks at two to three calls a day, but sometimes just one a week.

"Scammers may spoof official phone numbers, including City of Dallas and Dallas PD numbers, demanding you send money immediately," wrote DPD on their department blog earlier this year. "Criminals may use personal information or threaten to arrest you as scare tactics."

Dallasites already receive a higher rate of scam calls than most cities, receiving more than 470 fraudulent calls per capita per year. In 2024, the total losses reported to government imposter scams in Texas were $64,062,599. They were the third most common scam type and the second most expensive. So far in 2025, losses to government imposter scams are reported at $19,574,747.

Posing as an officer tacks on even more charges than the average scammer would face.

“The practice of impersonating a government official can violate a number of laws,” said Wernz.

Last year, the FTC passed the impersonation rule, which allows the agency to file federal court cases against scammers and sometimes requires them to pay back any money taken from consumers. But when a scammer identifies themselves as law enforcement, they also open the door for additional criminal charges. In Texas, impersonating an officer is a third-degree felony, carrying a sentence of two to 10 years and a $10,000 fine.

Wernz’s office partners with the Dallas Police Department and several other law enforcement organizations across the region to help combat scams like these and raise awareness about imposter scams in particular.

Identifying as an enforcement officer is just one of the latest and few scams Wernz has had to deal with. Scammers are quick, he says, and they learn fast. By tomorrow, there could be another new scam popping up, adding a bit more change to the billions of dollars Americans lose to scammers each year. Stay suspicious, judicious and if something feels fishy, it probably is.

“Scammers are sophisticated,” he said. “They are clever. They are always evolving.”