Example: How a Fake Police and FBI Call Cost Judith Her Savings

A retired white-haired woman in a lavender cardigan sits alone at her kitchen table in the afternoon with the curtains half drawn, a landline-style cordless phone pressed to her ear, worried and attentive, a notepad with scribbled notes in front of her.

Judith is a retired woman from Maryland. One afternoon her phone showed Rockville Police Department. The officer said her Social Security number had been linked to a crime. He put her through to an FBI agent who told her she was needed for a federal investigation. The agent called her twice a day for weeks. He told her to keep it secret, even from her bank. Judith lost $600,000.^[1]^[2]