No. The FTC doesn't shut off phone numbers, and it won't hand you to a police officer who wants money. On October 22 the agency warned about callers who pose as FTC officials, say your number is being used for scams in another country, and pass you to a fake police officer. If you hesitate, they tell you exactly what to search online to "check" the police number. The number you find is theirs.

Key facts

  • Who's pretending: An "FTC official" who reads out a badge ID, then a "police officer"
  • The hook: A phone registered in your name is being used for scams abroad, and your number will be cut off unless you cooperate
  • The twist: They tell you what to search online to find the police number. People in the scam answer it
  • What they want: Your ID and personal details, your silence, and finally money for a "security deposit"
  • Source: FTC consumer alert, October 22, 2026

How the call goes

The caller reads out a badge ID, slowly, so you can write it down. A phone registered under your name and number, they say, is being used to run scams in another country. Cooperate, or your number gets shut off. Then they offer to connect you to the police so you can file a report.

The "officer" takes it from there. You're asked for ID and personal details for the report, and told to keep it all to yourself. Later the story turns: you're under arrest over the scams tied to your number, and you'll have to travel to another country. Unless, that is, you send money as a security deposit. That's the sequence the FTC laid out in its October 22 alert. Its verdict on every step: "None of this is true."

The step that makes it work

Most people who get this far have a doubt. The scammers plan for it. According to the FTC, if you hesitate, they might suggest you call the police department back yourself, and they'll tell you what to search online to find the number. It feels like checking. It isn't. When you call, people involved in the scam pick up.

"Hang up and call back on a number you look up yourself" is the advice almost every scam guide gives, ours included. It still holds. This script is built to look like you followed it. The difference is who chose where you looked. A search the caller dictated, with the exact words they gave you, leads where they want it to.

A safer check starts somewhere the caller never touched. Type the agency's address yourself (ftc.gov, or your city or county's official site for the police) and use the contact page there. Or use a number you already had before the call: one on a bill, a card or your own records. If you can't find a number without the caller's help, that's your answer.

Where crypto comes in

The FTC's alert doesn't say how the "security deposit" gets paid. But this is a family of scams with a known ending. In the first half of 2024, about 86% of people who reported losing money at a bitcoin ATM told the FTC it started with someone posing as the government, a business or tech support, according to the agency's 2024 data. The FBI counted more than 13,400 complaints involving crypto kiosks in 2025, with over $388 million lost.

So if the "deposit" comes with a trip to a bitcoin ATM and a QR code to scan, you're at the last page of this script. The FBI's September 17 alert on fake officials says real ones never ask for payment in cryptocurrency, prepaid cards or by courier. Our guide to the police warrant bitcoin scam walks through the cash-to-kiosk part of the script.

If you already talked to them

  • You gave ID or personal details: treat them as stolen. IdentityTheft.gov, run by the FTC, builds a recovery plan, and a credit freeze makes it much harder to open new accounts in your name.
  • You paid: report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov, and tell your bank. If the money went through a crypto ATM, some states now require or push refunds. Our state-by-state refund guide lists them.
  • Someone calls offering to get it back: that's usually the same people, or their friends. Real recovery doesn't start with a cold call.

Quick answers

Can the FTC deactivate my phone number?

No. The FTC says a real FTC employee will never threaten to disconnect your phone. A caller who does is a scammer.

The caller gave me a badge number. Does that mean it's real?

No. The FTC says the badge ID in this scam is fake, and a real FTC employee will never text you a photo of an employee ID to "verify" who they are.

How do I check whether a police call is real?

Hang up. Type the department's official website address yourself, or use a number you already had, and call that. Don't search for the words the caller gave you.

Why did they tell me to keep it secret?

Because one conversation with a friend or a bank teller usually ends the scam. The FTC says a real FTC employee will never tell you to keep your conversations secret.

The badge number, the transfer to "police" and the search you were told to run all exist so you'll feel you checked. A real check is one the caller couldn't have planned for.

Updated October 30, 2026.

Sources: FTC consumer alert, October 22, 2026, FTC bitcoin ATM data, September 2024, FBI IC3 alert on crypto kiosks, May 2026, FBI IC3 alert on fake officials, September 17, 2026.