Fake gendarme and fake police officer scam – How to recognize it

The fake gendarme, or fake policeman, scam is a telephone scam in which an individual presents himself as a member of the police, often displaying the real number of a brigade or police station through number theft. The goal is to obtain banking data, validate transfers, or organize the recovery of valuable items from home. We also talk about false quality theft.

How the call takes place, step by step

1. 1
   An official number is displayed

   The call appears to come from a real gendarmerie or police station. It'snumber theft : software allows you to display the caller ID of your choice. Brigades from Calvados, Sarthe, Seine-Maritime and Somme reported this process in early 2026.

2. 2
   A credible accusation or alert

   The scenarios vary: “a complaint has been filed against you”, “your number was used to send fraudulent SMS messages”, “fraud is in progress on your bank card”, “you must pay a fine”. Fear of Authority Plays the Role Urgency Plays in Money Scam fake bank advisor : it prevents checking.

3. 3
   Transfer to an “advisor”

   The fake policeman often refrains from asking for bank details himself. He invites the victim to quickly call back a “bank advisor” or an “expert” on a number he provides. This second interlocutor, accomplice, obtains the identifiers or validates transfers.

4. 4
   The home variant: theft with false quality

   In another variation, the false police officer pretends to be an investigation after the arrest of a burglar and asks to check the presence of jewelry or cash in the home. An accomplice then shows up to “secure” the objects. Upsurges have been reported particularly in Deux-Sèvres and Indre-et-Loire.

5. 5
   Isolation of the victim

   Because the victim believes she is being implicated in an investigation, she hesitates to talk about it to those around her. The false gendarme can reinforce this silence by invoking the secrecy of the investigation. This is what makes the scam lasting and difficult for a loved one to stop.

What the police and gendarmerie never do

These four rules are enough to identify the scam, even when the number displayed is authentic.

• Request your bank details, identifiers or confidential code. Neither by phone, nor by SMS, nor by email. No investigation justifies it.

• Ask you to call a banking service on a number they give you. This is the central mechanism of this scam.

• Come to your home to collect jewelry, cash or bank card. No agent, no courier, no mandated “expert”.

• Request immediate payment by phone to extinguish a fine, a ticket or a procedure.

Check, then report

1. Hang up without giving any reasons. You have no obligation to stay on the line, and hanging up never makes a real situation worse.
2. Dial 17 yourself, or the official unit number that you found on your own. Ask if the cited agent exists and if there is a case that concerns you. Never call back the number that was displayed.
3. If you have provided banking information, immediately call your bank's opposition service, using the number on the back of your card, then file a complaint.
4. Report the attempt. On cybermalveillance.gouv.fr for assistance, on I alert Arcep for number theft, and 33700 for fraudulent SMS messages.
5. Talk about it. This scam relies on the silence of the victim. Talking to a loved one is often what interrupts it.

How Kin-Guard detects this scam

A blacklist filter is ineffective here: the number displayed is that of a real gendarmerie, therefore perfectly legitimate in appearance. Kin-Guard does not judge the number but the conversation. The assistant answers on behalf of your loved one, asks for the identity and reason for the call, and identifies the signals specific to this scenario: a challenge in a procedure, an instruction to call another number, a request for banking information, an invitation not to talk about it. If these signals accumulate, the call is not transmitted and you are alerted.

Frequently asked questions

Article written by Charlie BART, founder of Kin-Guard. Published on August 2, 2026.

Sources: TF1 Info – Fake police officer scam · France 3 Normandy — Alert from the Calvados gendarmerie · Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr

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