Fake Interpol Red Notice Scam

Interpol Red Notices are the highest-profile tool of international policing: they request that member countries locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition. Their reputation makes them a powerful lever for scammers. In reality, Red Notices are never communicated to the subject themselves — they are law-enforcement-to-law-enforcement instruments.

This scam is reported globally, particularly targeting business executives, wealthy individuals, and diaspora communities from countries where policing by fear is normalised. Physical letters with convincing Interpol letterhead and official-looking stamps have been used in addition to electronic contact.

Initial contact may come by email, letter, or phone. The communication uses Interpol's actual logo, official-sounding department names, and references to real Interpol legal instruments (such as the Rules on the Processing of Data or specific IRPD articles) to appear credible. The victim is told they have a narrow window — typically 48 to 72 hours — to engage with a named lawyer or pay a release fee before the notice goes live.

Subsequent contact is from a fake lawyer or intermediary who demands fees for 'representing' the victim before an Interpol commission. These fees escalate. In some variants the goal is not money but personal and financial data: the victim is asked to provide passport copies, bank statements, and corporate documents to assist the fake lawyer.

The Interpol brand carries unique authority because its warrants have genuine international reach. The prospect of being unable to travel, operate bank accounts, or do business across borders is a catastrophic scenario for business people and travellers. The time pressure manufactured by the scammer prevents careful verification.

Many victims are in countries where challenging official-looking legal instruments carries its own risks, and the instinct to handle the matter quietly (especially if the accused offence is embarrassing) overrides the instinct to seek independent verification.

The victim receives a call, email, or physical letter bearing Interpol branding that states a Red Notice has been issued in their name for crimes including money laundering, human trafficking, or terrorism financing. A case officer is named and a case reference provided. The victim is told the notice will be circulated to all member countries within days, making it impossible to travel or conduct business without facing arrest. A fee is demanded to retain a lawyer who can 'withdraw the notice.' Once payment is made the scammer requests further fees or disappears.

A Red Notice has been issued by Interpol in connection with case reference [alphanumeric]. You have 72 hours to engage legal counsel to prevent this notice being circulated to all 195 member countries.

This is a formal notification from Interpol General Secretariat. Your name appears in an international money-laundering investigation. To protect your rights, contact [lawyer name] immediately.

Interpol NCB notification: international arrest warrant issued for [name]. Payment of [amount] required to initiate the notice withdrawal process through official channels.

Your passport has been flagged in an Interpol database linked to human trafficking. Our office can facilitate removal of your records for a processing fee of [amount].

As legal representative appointed by Interpol Commission on [date], I am instructed to inform you that a Red Notice will go live in 48 hours unless you retain my services.

Interpol does not notify individuals that a Red Notice has been issued against them. If you were genuinely the subject of a Red Notice, you would only learn of it when stopped at a border or contacted by your own country's police. Interpol does not solicit payments, and it has no mechanism for individuals to pay to withdraw notices.

Verify directly by contacting Interpol's General Secretariat in Lyon, France, via the official contact channels at interpol.int. Your country's national central bureau (NCB) — part of the national police — can also confirm whether any Interpol notice is outstanding. Never use contact details provided by the sender of the notification.