COOPER CITY, FL - Florida resident Alan Zimbler found himself the victim of a sophisticated government-impersonation scam, losing $250,000 in the process.
When Zimbler first received a call from someone claiming to be a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent, he did what most people do after being the recipient of several scam calls: hang up. But the "agent" called him again. "Why would they call me back unless it’s real, you know?” said Zimbler, 68.
Ten weeks later, Zimbler lost a quarter of a million dollars, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He and his wife's path to retirement, which included a move from New Jersey to South Florida, closing his architectural firm and taking a long-planned trip to Disney World, has been severely impacted by the whole ordeal.
"It's really been very painful," Zimbler said. The scheme targeting Zimbler involved daily Microsoft Teams chats and video calls, more than 10 fake government documents with official-looking seals, including a federal arrest warrant and two wire transfers.
The impersonators also adopted the names of a former top FBI agent and a current Justice Department prosecutor, and forged the signature of then-U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on a fake bail document to convince Zimbler of the scam's authenticity. Zimbler is among hundreds of thousands of Americans who are ripped off annually in government-impersonation scams.
With the rise of AI, the schemes are getting more sophisticated and harder to detect, according to technology experts and law enforcement officials. In 2025, victims lost $3.5 billion in impostor schemes, nearly triple the amount lost in 2020. About $920 million of the losses stemmed from government-impostor scams, a $131 million jump from 2024.
Florida ranks third in overall internet fraud complaints as well as third in money lost, according to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center's 2025 annual report.
For Zimbler, the "agent" informed him that his name had been connected to an illegal package sent from Washington to Vietnam containing bank debit cards and SIM cards, implicating him in a multinational money laundering ring. She told him he needed to come to Washington to provide a statement to the FBI.
The scammers caught Zimbler in a perfect storm. Although he had many distractions and was looking forward to retirement, Zimbler said all he could think about were the agents, the investigation and his potential arrest.
One of the agents instructed Zimbler not to tell his wife, the police or any other interested party, saying that could compromise the case's confidentiality. During their calls, Zimbler would go to his basement and close the door, so that his wife could only hear small tidbits when she listened at the top of the stairs.
"I was completely anxious for him, like I didn’t know what was going on,” his wife said. “Every time I asked him, he said he couldn’t talk about it." Andrew Yoon, a researcher at CivAI, a nonprofit that educates the public about the capabilities and dangers of AI, explained that Zimbler's experience was completely by design.
"You need to impart a sense of urgency in a person, so that you turn off their rational brain, and you turn on the lizard brain, you put them into fight-or-flight mode, and this just makes people less likely to question what’s going on,” Yoon said.
The "agents" told Zimbler that they had secured a "bail pending trial" agreement and he would have to pay $110,000 to secure the bail. They also told him if he paid, he would not be arrested. Among the fake signatures on the document were Blanche, then acting Deputy Attorney General and now the acting U.S. Attorney General.
Zimbler's wife told him to "do what you have to." Zimbler took the money out of his 401(k) and wired the funds. His financial advisor didn't ask any questions. The scammers told Zimbler he would eventually get the money back and the case would likely be dismissed.
Following the initial wire, one of the "agents" told Zimbler that Vietnamese prosecutors involved in the investigation were not satisfied with the amount provided, as they had been "victimized" by the crime. So, Zimbler wired an additional $140,000 from some of the money accrued after selling his New Jersey home.
After that, he never heard from either of the "agents" again. He reached out twice to ask if they were going to have a call before he realized he had been scammed. "I screwed up," Zimbler said.
He contacted local police, and submitted an IC3 form to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. Although the FBI has not gotten back to Zimbler, the Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the Herald they were looking into the case as a criminal investigation. Zimbler also reported the fraud to PNC Bank. All of his accounts have been closed, and Zimbler can’t access new ones until his laptop and phone are completely cleaned. He said PNC Bank has not indicated whether it’s investigating the case.
Zimbler does not think he will get the money back, but hopes that people will learn from his story, and about the depth of deceptions fraudsters devise.
"These people are obviously well financed. They’re well resourced, they are well-prepared, know exactly what they’re doing and how they’re doing it,” Zimbler said. “Even just keeping me on the string all the time, you know, the back and forth banter, you know, just gaining my confidence."
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