Can police ask me to send cryptocurrency to help them catch a scammer targeting my account?
No. Police do not ask members of the public to send cryptocurrency to assist law enforcement operations. This is a law enforcement impersonation scam.
Last reviewed: 10 June 2026
Explanation
Law enforcement agencies conduct undercover operations through trained personnel, with legal authorisation, and using controlled funds — not by recruiting random members of the public to send their personal savings in cryptocurrency. No police force has a procedure that requires a victim or witness to transfer their own assets as part of an operation.
This scam combines the authority of law enforcement with the urgency of a current threat to your finances. A caller posing as a police officer claims they have identified a scammer who has already accessed your accounts and the only way to protect your money or contribute to the arrest is to move it to a cryptocurrency account they control.
The instruction to send crypto to 'hold' your money safely while the operation proceeds is identical to the 'safe account' fraud script, with cryptocurrency substituted for a bank transfer. Once the crypto is sent, the funds are gone.
If you are ever told by a caller that sending your own money will help police catch a criminal, hang up immediately. Legitimate police operations do not work this way, and any officer claiming otherwise is not a real officer.
Common red flags
- Caller claiming to be police asks you to send cryptocurrency to assist an operation
- Claims your funds will be protected by being converted to crypto
- Urgency created by claiming a criminal is actively accessing your accounts
- Asks you not to tell your bank or family about the operation
- Provides a wallet address to send your funds to
- Contact was unsolicited and call was unexpected
What to do now
- Hang up immediately without sending any funds
- Call your local police non-emergency number to report the call
- Contact your bank to check whether your accounts show any unusual activity
- Report to your national fraud authority
- If you already sent cryptocurrency, report to the exchange and police immediately
- Alert family members who may also be targeted
Frequently asked questions
Do police ever need money from the public to catch criminals?
No. Criminal operations are funded through government budgets and authorised processes. A police officer who asks a member of the public to personally fund or participate in a financial operation by sending their own money is not acting within any legitimate law enforcement framework.
What if the caller transfers me to someone who sounds like a real detective?
Call transfers to add authority figures are a common tactic in this scam. Multiple voices, formal language, and badge numbers are all fabricated. The only way to verify police contact is to call the relevant station independently using a number you look up yourself.