Phony FBI Agents, Police Officers Working Scams in Royal Oak

ROYAL OAK, MI – A man identifying himself as a Royal Oak police administrator or federal agent and warning of pending actions for interference with federal investigations is a fraud, police said.

The Royal Oak Police Department has received several complaints about the imposter claiming to be with the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the local police department.

In one specific incident, the complainant told police that an individual identified himself as a city police officer and said actions would be taken against her for interfering with federal investigation.

“This victim was led to believe that she needed to send funds to locations in China in order to halt the legal proceedings,” police said in a statement.

The police department said neither its officers nor FBI agents will contact residents and demand money.

“The scammers are also requesting monies be sent to various overseas locations which is likewise not a practice of the federal government or local agencies,” authorities said. “The preferred requested method of money transfer by the scammers is MoneyGram wire transfers and online money transfer entities such as PayPal.

“These scammers can be very convincing and often threaten legal action, incarceration and financial seizure if victims fail to comply,” police continued. “Their scams are intricate and may involve several falsely identified officials and agents using information and identification easily accessible on line.”

Different schemes currently being employed are detailed on the FBI Common Fraud Schemes Page and on the Department of Justice Fraud Section page.

» Photo by B Rosen via Flickr / Creative Commons