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Assume an unexpected email threatening extradition or accusing you of cybercrime is unverified until the relevant authority confirms it through a contact channel you found independently. Do not click its links, open unexpected attachments, pay, reply with personal details, or use phone numbers and addresses in the message. A convincing logo, sender name, or official-looking email address does not prove who sent it.
Is an extradition or cybercrime email real?
You cannot authenticate an email from its appearance alone. Scammers can impersonate law-enforcement agencies and government officials, spoof sender names and addresses, and create websites that imitate official ones. The FBI has specifically warned about impersonators posing as foreign law-enforcement agencies or U.S.-based foreign diplomatic officials who threaten extradition or cancellation of a home-country passport. The FBI’s September 2026 warning describes this tactic.
The threat is not proof that a case exists. Nor does a polished message prove that it is genuine. Treat the claim and any case reference as unverified until the agency named in the email confirms them using its independently published contact details.
Warning signs to look for
- Threats and urgency: The sender pressures you to act immediately, keep the matter secret, or avoid contacting anyone.
- Requests for money or sensitive details: The message demands payment, identity information, passwords, account details, or other personal data.
- Unusual payment methods: Requests for prepaid cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, or payment through a courier are particularly strong warning signs in FBI impersonation guidance. The FBI’s 2022 guidance discusses these tactics.
- Unexpected links or attachments: A link may lead to a subtly altered address or a fake site; an attachment may be unsafe. Do not click or open either to investigate.
- Sender details that do not quite match: Check the full sender address and, without opening it, the link’s displayed destination for misspellings or unfamiliar domains. A suspicious address is a warning, not a complete test: sender information can be spoofed, and a plausible-looking address is not authentication.
No single typo, logo, address, or formatting clue establishes whether a message is genuine. The useful test is confirmation through the agency’s official public channel, located separately from the email. The FBI’s spoofing and phishing guidance explains why sender details and lookalike websites can mislead.
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How to verify the message safely
- Do not interact with the message. Do not click links, open attachments, pay, or provide information. Avoid replying, including to ask whether it is genuine.
- Find the agency’s contact information independently. Navigate to its official website using an address you already know or find through a trusted, independent source. Do not use a phone number, link, or reply address supplied in the suspicious email.
- Contact the agency through that public channel. Ask whether it sent the message and whether the named case or reference is genuine. Procedures and contact channels differ by jurisdiction, so contact the authority that supposedly sent it.
- Make the decision based on confirmation, not the email’s appearance. If the agency cannot verify the message through its official channel, do not follow the email’s instructions. If the agency confirms a real matter, ask for the appropriate next steps through that verified channel.
What is specific to Europol—and what is not
Europol’s warning applies to messages claiming to come from Europol: it says, “Europol does not contact citizens directly.” Its guidance also says Europol does not issue fines, accept payments, or discuss ongoing investigations. Europol’s public guide, updated 29 July 2024, advises people to report purported Europol correspondence to local or national police.
Do not apply Europol’s specific rule to every police force, court, or government agency. For a message claiming to come from another authority, verify it with that authority using contact details obtained independently.
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If you already clicked, shared details, or paid
If you sent money or payment details
Stop communicating with the sender and contact your bank, card issuer, or other financial institution promptly. Explain what happened and ask what steps are available to protect your accounts and address the transaction. Report the incident to local law enforcement and the relevant national reporting service. In the United States, the FBI directs victims to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
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Keep evidence and report the message
Preserve the original email, messages, URLs, available email headers, and transaction records. Keep unexpected attachments without opening them. FBI victim guidance recommends notifying financial institutions when relevant, contacting local law enforcement, and filing with IC3; FBI Philadelphia’s April 2026 guidance also describes preserving information and reporting impersonation attempts.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How common are these impersonation reports?
IC3 reported nearly 61,000 complaints and more than $1.6 billion in reported losses from law-enforcement or government impersonation scams between January 2025 and July 2026. Within that period, IC3 received 1,809 complaints involving threats from impersonators posing as foreign law enforcement or U.S.-based foreign diplomatic officials, with reported losses exceeding $140 million. These are complaints and losses reported to IC3, not a count of every incident or a measure of an individual’s chance of being targeted. See the FBI/IC3 announcement.
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