What are the red flags of this scam?

Call starts from a spoofed number — a retailer, telecom, or Chinese Embassy — then 'transfers' you to a 'Chinese police officer' • Officer claims you are named in a money-laundering or drug case in China and must cooperate immediately • You are told to consent to 24/7 audio/video monitoring and report your daily activities to the 'detective' • You are instructed not to tell family, friends, your university, or US police about the 'investigation' • Caller demands a wire transfer to a Chinese or foreign bank account as 'bail' or 'proof of innocence' • Caller may use your real name, student ID, school name, or address — all available from public sources or data breaches • Middle Eastern students: variant caller impersonates UAE, Saudi, Qatar, or Jordan embassy and threatens visa revocation or home-country arrest • Real foreign police have no authority to investigate, detain, or extradite you from within the US

What should I do if this happened to me?

Hang up immediately — no foreign police force can arrest, extradite, or cancel your passport over a phone call from the US • Do not send any money, cryptocurrency, or gift cards — legitimate law enforcement never demands payment by wire • Tell a trusted friend, university international student office, or family member right away; the instruction to stay silent is itself the scam • If you want to verify, look up your actual home country's embassy phone number on the official embassy website and call them yourself — do not use any number the caller gave you • If money was already sent, contact your bank immediately to attempt a recall, and file a report at tips.fbi.gov • Contact your university's International Student Services office — they are familiar with this scam and can help • Report to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov.

HIGH government impersonation Last reported: Sep 29, 2026 Share

"Chinese police" caller threatens international students with extradition unless they wire money

Q: Is this a scam?

Yes. This is a documented scam pattern. Caller impersonates Chinese police, a foreign embassy, or diplomatic officials from a student's home country, claims they are under criminal investigation, demands 24/7 video monitoring and isolation, and orders a wire transfer to "prove innocence" or avoid extradition.

Caller impersonates Chinese police, a foreign embassy, or diplomatic officials from a student's home country, claims they are under criminal investigation, demands 24/7 video monitoring and isolation, and orders a wire transfer to "prove innocence" or avoid extradition.

Also known as: Chinese police phone scam, fake Chinese detective scam, foreign government impersonation student scam, extradition threat wire fraud, fake embassy criminal investigation call

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

1 Call your bank or card's fraud line right now. Use the number on the back of your card — not any number from the message or caller. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and freeze the account.
2 If you paid by gift card, wire, or an app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App): contact that company immediately and report it as fraud. Acting fast sometimes recovers the money.
3 Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The sooner, the better.

What to do right now

1 Hang up immediately — no foreign police force can arrest, extradite, or cancel your passport over a phone call from the US
2 Do not send any money, cryptocurrency, or gift cards — legitimate law enforcement never demands payment by wire
3 Tell a trusted friend, university international student office, or family member right away; the instruction to stay silent is itself the scam
4 If you want to verify, look up your actual home country's embassy phone number on the official embassy website and call them yourself — do not use any number the caller gave you
5 If money was already sent, contact your bank immediately to attempt a recall, and file a report at tips.fbi.gov
6 Contact your university's International Student Services office — they are familiar with this scam and can help
7 Report to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov.

Red flags

⚠ Call starts from a spoofed number — a retailer, telecom, or Chinese Embassy — then 'transfers' you to a 'Chinese police officer'
⚠ Officer claims you are named in a money-laundering or drug case in China and must cooperate immediately
⚠ You are told to consent to 24/7 audio/video monitoring and report your daily activities to the 'detective'
⚠ You are instructed not to tell family, friends, your university, or US police about the 'investigation'
⚠ Caller demands a wire transfer to a Chinese or foreign bank account as 'bail' or 'proof of innocence'
⚠ Caller may use your real name, student ID, school name, or address — all available from public sources or data breaches
⚠ Middle Eastern students: variant caller impersonates UAE, Saudi, Qatar, or Jordan embassy and threatens visa revocation or home-country arrest
⚠ Real foreign police have no authority to investigate, detain, or extradite you from within the US

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

What to do right now

Red flags

Sources