Callers Claiming to Be Police: Four Things Real Officers Never Do

This is Shemihaza, your sentinel. Today: the phone call from someone claiming to be a police officer.

Start with the conclusion. A real officer does not do any of these four things. They do not tell you by phone that you are under investigation. They do not contact you through a messaging app. They do not send you images of a police badge or an arrest warrant. And they do not suddenly make a video call to your personal phone.

If even one of those happens, it is a scam. That is the National Police Agency's own wording.

Today's material is the National Police Agency's special-fraud site SOS47 and its special-fraud figures through the end of July 2026 (provisional). Both are read directly from what the agency publishes.

One misconception to clear first. By age group, victims of this scam are most often in their thirties. This is not a story about elderly parents.

Seven out of ten yen lost to special fraud go to this one method

The agency's final figures for 2025 read as follows.

11,014 recorded cases of fake-police fraud, which is 39.6% of all special fraud. Losses of 100.5 billion yen, which is 70.6% of all special-fraud losses. Four in ten cases, seven in ten yen — the loss per case is large.

The age pattern is published too. Victims are most commonly in their thirties, while the largest average loss per completed case falls on people in their seventies. As for how contact is first made, more than 90% of victims aged 40 or under are reached on a mobile phone, while for those 50 and over it is a landline about 60% of the time. Younger people are being targeted through their smartphones.

Special fraud overall has continued to run at roughly 3,000 to 4,300 recorded cases a month through 2026 (4,020 in July 2026, provisional). Fake-police fraud became its own statistical category in 2026 — a measure of how prominent the method has become.

The method runs in three stages

Here is the sequence the agency describes. The channel changes partway through, and that is characteristic of this scam.

• ▸1. The call arrives. It reaches landlines and mobiles alike. The pretext is something like "your bank account is being used for crime" or "a phone contract has been taken out in your name". Some calls open with someone claiming to be from a telecom company or a ministry, and hand over to the "officer" partway through.
• ▸2. Fear, then a change of channel. You are told you are going to be arrested. In some cases a fake police badge or arrest warrant is shown to you, and you are moved onto social media or a video call. Automated messages have also been used — "this line stops working in two hours, press 1 to keep it" — with evidence that calls are being auto-dialled in bulk.
• ▸3. You are made to pay. The money is requested "to protect your assets" or "to investigate the account", by cash handover or transfer. It is not only cash: victims have been made to buy gold bullion and hand it over (163 recorded cases, 5.82 billion yen in losses, averaging 35.727 million yen per completed case).

The four things a real officer never does

This is the core of telling the call apart. The agency lists exactly four things real officers do not do. If you remember nothing else, remember these.

• ▸They do not tell you by phone that you are the subject of an investigation.
• ▸They do not contact you through a messaging app.
• ▸They do not send images of a police badge or an arrest warrant.
• ▸They do not make a sudden video call to your personal smartphone.

The agency follows those four with an instruction: if even one applies, or anything feels wrong, end the call or video call, then consult a police station in person or ring the police advice line (#9110).

Emails impersonating the agency itself have also been seen — "you are suspected of money laundering, transfer the bail amount to the account below, and if you miss the deadline you will be arrested". The National Police Agency never demands money by email or phone.

The most dangerous move is calling back

The number on your screen is not evidence of anything. The agency has confirmed a method in which the switchboard number of a police headquarters or station is spoofed onto the display, and publishes a case.

A victim received a call on their mobile showing the Aichi Prefectural Police headquarters switchboard number (052-951-1611). A woman claiming to be an officer said an account had been opened in their name and that they were a suspect in a money-laundering case. The conversation moved to a video call on social media, where a police badge with a photograph was shown, and the victim was told the funds had to be transferred so the account could be examined. They transferred 2.5 million yen. Only when they later rang that same switchboard number themselves did they learn it was a scam.

Hence the agency's instruction: never return a call to a number the other party has given you. And: even when a real police station number has been used, do not believe it is genuine — consult a police station or the police advice line (#9110).

Verify only through a number you looked up yourself. The "verification number" the caller offers reaches the criminals. The agency also notes a pattern of international numbers beginning with "+" and ending in "0110" being used to imitate calls from police stations.

What to do today

• ✓If "police", "arrest" and "your account" turn up in the same phone call, hang up. You can think about it afterwards. A genuine matter is not something that collapses because you ended a call.
• ✓Only ever call back a number you looked up yourself. Not the one the caller gave you, and not the one in your call history. Search for your local station, or dial #9110.
• ✓If a badge or warrant is shown on a video call, you can treat it as a scam on the spot. The agency states outright that officers do not do this. How convincing the image looks is irrelevant.
• ✓Assume it will reach the mobile phones in your family too. Over 90% of victims aged 40 and under were first contacted on a mobile. This is not only a problem for elderly parents.
• ✓If you are told to go and buy gold, it is a scam. The agency reports that roughly 90% of gold-bullion fraud cases are this method.

Spot-the-scam quiz

Three lines to forward to your family

• ▸Police do not question you by phone, and do not show a badge over a video call. If that happens, it is a scam.
• ▸A real police station number on your screen means nothing. Numbers can be spoofed.
• ▸To check, use a number you looked up yourself, or #9110 — never the one the caller gave you. If money has already gone, call the Consumer Hotline on 188.

The contact numbers, both Japanese domestic lines. While you only suspect a scam, #9110 is the police advice line — the agency presents it as the route for non-emergency consultations. If a crime is in progress and it is urgent, that is 110. Once money has actually gone, call the Consumer Hotline on 188, which connects to your local consumer affairs centre.

One addition worth knowing: on 14 September 2026 the National Consumer Affairs Center launched "Consumer Trouble Resolution Navi" (consumer.go.jp/pio), a site offering FAQ-based help for resolving consumer trouble and directing people to consultation desks nationwide. The centre states that where a desk accepts web-form enquiries, you can apply through the site — one more option for people who find phoning difficult.