Skip to main content
Red Flag Briefing — home

Guide Government impostors

Courier Scams: When Someone Comes to Pick Up Your Cash

Scammers send couriers to the homes of older adults to collect cash, gold or silver. Why no real agency or bank does this, and what to do if one is coming.

By Nathan Fielder Checked against official sources

Published

Quick answer

In a courier scam, a caller posing as a government agent, bank employee or tech support worker tells you to hand cash, gold or silver to a courier at your home. The FBI has warned about these pickups since 2024. No real agency, bank or company does this. Keep the door closed and call your local police.

A courier scam ends with a stranger at your door. It usually starts with a frightening call: your accounts have been hacked, your identity was used in a crime, or a family member is in trouble. Then the caller tells you to withdraw cash or buy gold, and says someone will come by to keep it safe.

The FBI first warned about these pickups in January 2024, and has warned about them again since. Like other government impostor scams, they work by borrowing the authority of someone you trust.

What is a courier scam?

It is a scam where the “payment” is handed over in person. In its January 2024 alert, the FBI described two steps:

  1. The scare. Scammers posing as tech support or government officials say your accounts were hacked or are at risk. They tell you to turn your savings into cash or to buy precious metals. Sometimes they tell you to wire money to a metal dealer, who ships the metals to your home.
  2. The pickup. A courier comes to your home or meets you in a public place to collect the cash or metals. The scammers may give you a passcode, such as the serial number of a U.S. dollar bill, so you’ll trust the courier. You’re told your money will be kept safe. Then the scammers disappear.

From May to December 2023 alone, the FBI said, losses from this kind of scheme added up to more than $55 million.

EXAMPLE — SCAM
Incoming call (866) 555-0158

Caller: This is Special Agent Morris. Your bank accounts are part of a federal fraud investigation, and your money is not safe in the bank.

Caller: Withdraw your savings in cash today. An agent will come to your home at 4 p.m. to secure it. He will confirm the serial number I give you. Do not tell the bank why you are withdrawing.

A fake 'federal agent' arranging a courier pickup This is a made-up example based on real scam reports. Never reply to, call, or tap links in messages like this.

Who do the callers pretend to be?

The FBI says the callers usually pose as tech support representatives or U.S. government officials, and sometimes as a sequence of all three: a technology company, then a bank, then a government official. That pattern is the Phantom Hacker scam.

Couriers show up in other scams, too. In June 2026 the FBI warned that crypto investment scammers send couriers to collect cash, and that couriers are also used in grandparent, law enforcement and tech support scams. See the grandparent scam and trading scams.

Why do they ask for cash, gold or silver?

Because they are hard to trace and nearly impossible to get back. Social Security lists asking you to pay in gold or silver or by mailing cash, and offering to meet you in person to pick up cash or gold bars, among the red flags of a scam. The FBI is just as direct: the U.S. government and legitimate businesses will never ask you to buy gold or other precious metals.

What should you do if a courier is on the way?

Don’t open the door, and don’t hand anything over. The FBI’s advice is never to reveal your home address or agree to meet someone you don’t know to hand over cash or metals. Then:

  • Call your local police and tell them a courier is coming to collect money in a scam.
  • Call your bank, using the number on your card, and tell it what happened.
  • Call someone you trust. Scammers often tell you to keep it secret; telling a family member breaks the spell.

What if you already handed over money?

Report it quickly. File a report at IC3.gov with the names, phone numbers, emails and websites the scammers used, any accounts you wired money to, and the name and location of any metal dealer. Call your bank and your local police. People 60 and older can get free help with reporting from the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).

Our first-hour checklist after a scam covers each payment method, and how to report a scam call lists every place to report the call itself. Watch for follow-up offers to “recover” your money; those are recovery scams.

Red flags: how to spot this scam

  1. A caller says your accounts were hacked or are at risk and tells you to withdraw cash or buy gold or silver to keep it safe.
  2. Someone wants to send a courier to your home, or to meet you in a parking lot or other public place, to collect the money.
  3. You are given a 'passcode,' such as the serial number on a dollar bill, so the courier can prove who they are.

What to do

  1. Hang up. Don't give your home address to anyone who called you out of the blue.
  2. Never hand cash, gold or other valuables to a courier, no matter who they say sent them.
  3. Call your bank, or the agency the caller named, using a number you look up yourself.
  4. If a courier is on the way or at your door, keep the door closed and call your local police.
  5. Report it to IC3.gov. People 60 and older can call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).

Send this to someone you love

A quick share can stop a scam before it starts.

Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab) Send by email Send by text message

See our scam alerts first in Google

If you use Google Search, you can choose Red Flag Briefing as a preferred source so our warnings show up more often in Top Stories.

Add Red Flag Briefing as a preferred source on Google

Where to report it

Reporting helps investigators spot patterns and warn others — even if you did not lose money. Type these addresses yourself or use the links below; do not use links from a suspicious message.

  • Social Security Office of the Inspector General

    Calls, letters or messages from people pretending to be Social Security.

    oig.ssa.gov

  • Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)

    Phone calls from people pretending to be the IRS.

    tigta.gov

  • IRS — report fake IRS emails and messages

    Emails and texts that pretend to come from the IRS or the Treasury.

    irs.gov

  • HHS Office of Inspector General

    Medicare and Medicaid fraud, including people asking for your Medicare number.

    oig.hhs.gov

  • Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

    Any scam, fraud or bad business practice — calls, texts, emails, websites and impostors.

    ReportFraud.ftc.gov

You can also report to your state attorney general. If you sent money, call your bank or card company right away using the number on the back of your card.

Frequently asked questions

Would the police, the FBI or my bank ever send someone to collect money?

No. The FBI says the U.S. government and legitimate businesses will never ask you to buy gold or other precious metals, and Social Security lists meeting you in person to pick up cash, gold bars or other assets as a red flag of a scam.

What if the courier gives me a passcode or shows an ID?

It proves nothing. The FBI says scammers sometimes use a passcode, such as a dollar bill's serial number, to 'verify' the courier. A real agency or bank doesn't collect your savings at your door.

Is this the same as the grandparent scam?

It can be. Couriers show up in several scams. The FBI says they are used in grandparent, law enforcement, tech support and crypto investment scams. The common thread is a stranger coming to take cash or valuables.

What should I report, and where?

Report it to IC3.gov as soon as you can. The FBI asks for the name of the person or company that contacted you, the phone numbers, emails and websites they used, any bank accounts you wired money to, and the name and location of any metal dealer you were told to use.

Sources

We rely on official government sources. Read how we check facts in our editorial policy.

  1. FBI IC3 PSA I-012924-PSA: Scammers Use Couriers to Retrieve Cash and Precious Metals from Victims of Tech Support and Government Impersonation Scams (Jan. 29, 2024) (ic3.gov, accessed )
  2. FBI IC3 PSA I-061526-PSA: Scammers Use Couriers to Collect Cash in Cryptocurrency Investment Scams (June 15, 2026) (ic3.gov, accessed )
  3. FBI IC3 PSA I-091726-PSA: Scammers Impersonating Law Enforcement and Government Officials in Fraud Schemes (Sept. 17, 2026) (ic3.gov, accessed )
  4. Social Security Administration: Protect Yourself from Scams (ssa.gov, accessed )
  5. DOJ Office for Victims of Crime: National Elder Fraud Hotline (ovc.ojp.gov, accessed )

Related scams

See all articles about government impostor scams