FBI Called About Wire Fraud What Do I Do Now

FBI Called About Wire Fraud What Do I Do Now

The FBI doesn’t call to chat. If a federal agent left you a voicemail asking to “discuss a matter” or wants to “clear some things up,” you are already in serious trouble. That friendly-sounding phone call is not an opportunity to explain yourself. It is not your chance to tell your side of the story. It is the final stage of an investigation that has been building for months, possibly years, without your knowledge. The agent calling you has already reviewed your emails, your bank records, your text messages. They’ve likely talked to witnesses. They’ve probably already decided you’re guilty. The call is designed to get you to say something that confirms what they already believe – or, more dangerously, to say something wrong that creates an entirely new federal crime.

That last part is what nobody tells you. You can walk into an FBI interview completely innocent of wire fraud and walk out having committed a separate federal felony. Not because you did anything wrong originally. But because you misremembered a date, got a dollar amount slightly wrong, or said “no” to something you actually did three years ago and forgot about. That’s a violation of 18 USC 1001 – making false statements to a federal agent – and it carries up to five years in prison. This is not hypothetical. This is how federal prosecutions actually work.

The conviction rate for federal wire fraud cases is 88 percent. Think about what that number means. Federal prosecutors don’t bring charges unless they’re confident they’ll win. If the FBI is calling you, it’s not because they’re still figuring out what happened. They already know. The investigation phase is over. Now they’re building trial evidence. And the easiest trial evidence to manufacture is your own words, given voluntarily, in an interview you didn’t have to agree to.

The Phone Call That Changes Everything

Heres the thing most people dont understand. When FBI calls asking to meet, they frame it like your helping them. They say things like “we just want to get your perspective” or “this will help clear things up.” It sounds reasonable. It sounds like the kind of thing an innocent person would agree to. Thats exactly why its so dangerous.

The call itself is a trap. Not in some dramatic movie sense. In a very specific legal sense. FBI agents are trained to ask questions they already know the answers to. There not trying to learn new information. There testing whether youll tell the truth. And if you get any detail wrong – even by accident, even about something that dosent matter to the underlying case – youve just committed a federal crime.

Most people who face federal charges after FBI interviews werent guilty of the original crime being investigated. Read that again. They got charged with making false statements. A separate offense. Additional years in prison. All because they tried to be helpful.

The 88% conviction rate isnt just about wire fraud cases where the defendant clearly did something wrong. Its about a system designed to create convictions. Once your in the system, once youve talked, youve given prosecutors multiple paths to put you in prison:

• The wire fraud charge
• The false statement charge
• The obstruction charge if you deleted an email after the call
• Conspiracy if anyone else was involved

Each charge stacks. Each charge carries years.

Why Talking to the FBI Is Almost Always a Mistake

Lets talk about Martha Stewart. Everyone thinks she went to prison for insider trading. She didnt. The insider trading charges were dropped. What stuck? Obstruction of justice and making false statements to FBI agents. She was convicted of lying about a crime that was never proven illegal.

Think about what that means. She sold 3,928 shares of ImClone stock. She avoided a loss of $45,673. The government investigated her for insider trading. They couldnt prove it. But during the investigation, she talked to federal agents. And something she said – or something they wrote down that she said – became the basis for criminal charges. She served five months in federal prison. Not for the stock sale. For the conversation about the stock sale.

This is the reality of federal criminal defense that nobody wants to accept: your biggest risk often isnt the crime your being investigated for. Its the investigation itself. Its the questions you answer trying to prove your innocence. Its the details you get wrong because your nervous or your memory isnt perfect or you genuinly dont remember something that happened two years ago.

Heres were it gets even worse. FBI interviews are not recorded. Let that sink in. The FBI – the most powerful investigative agency in the world – dosent record there interviews. Instead, one agent asks questions while another takes notes. Later, sometimes hours or days later, they write up a summary on a form called an FD-302. This summary is in the agents words. Its there interpretation of what you said. And it becomes the official record of the interview.

So when you go to trial, your not defending against what you actualy said. Your defending against what two federal agents wrote down that they beleive you said. And if there version differs from your memory? Your the one who looks like a liar.

The 18 USC 1001 Trap Nobody Warns You About

Look at what happened to Michael Flynn. He was a three-star general. National Security Advisor. He agreed to an FBI interview becuase why wouldnt he? He was helping. The agents who interviewed him initialy concluded he wasnt being deceptive. But then the FD-302 went through three weeks of revisions. Edits from people who werent even at the interview. The final 302 formed the basis of a false statements charge.

The Justice Department itself later admitted the interview “seems to have been undertaken only to elicit his false statement.” Read that carefully. The interview wasnt about gathering information. It was about creating a crime. They asked questions they already knew the answers to. They waited for him to get something wrong. Then they charged him with lying.

This isnt some conspiracy theory. This is how the system works. 18 USC 1001 makes it a federal crime to make any false statement to a federal agent. Any statement. Even casual conversation. Even a denial of wrongdoing. The Supreme Court killed the “exculpatory no” defense in 1998. Which means even saying “No, I didnt do it” can be prosecuted as a false statement if prosecutors can prove you actualy did.

The interview IS the trap. Federal agents are trained to ask questions they already know the answers to – not to gather information, but to create opportunitys for you to lie. The interview isnt about facts. Its about manufacturing false statement charges.

Heres the math:

• Wire fraud carries up to 20 years
• False statements carries up to 5 years

If you talk and get something wrong, you just added 5 years to your potental sentence. And you gave prosecutors a second path to conviction. Even if they cant prove wire fraud, they might be able to prove you lied about wire fraud. Your still going to prison.

How Wire Fraud Investigations Actually Work

Most people have no idea how federal investigations operate. They imagine detectives gathering clues, slowly building a case, eventualy figuring out what happened. Thats not how it works. Wire fraud investigations are methodical, data-driven, and usualy complete before the target has any idea there being investigated.

The FBI dosent work alone on wire fraud cases. Multiple agencies collaborate:

• FBI handles the main investigation
• IRS Criminal Investigation looks at the tax implications
• SEC gets involved if securities are implicated
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service joins if mail was used

These agencies share information freely. Something you say to one agency gets shared with all of them.

The investigation techniques are extensive. Forensic analysts trace emails, phone calls, and online transactions. They recover deleted data from computers and phones. They analyze metadata that reveals when documents were created, modified, and by who. They interview witnesses – your employees, your business partners, your clients. Many of these witnesses have already agreed to cooperate in exchange for lenient treatment. There telling prosecutors everything.

By the time FBI contacts you, they already have bank records showing every transaction. They have email chains showing every communication. They have witness statements describing what happened. They have forensic analysis of your devices. The investigation isnt at the “figuring things out” stage. Its at the “confirming what we already know” stage.

Heres what nobody tells you about the timeline. Wire fraud investigations typicaly take 12-18 months for straightforward cases. Complex international schemes can take years. But you wont know about any of it. The government has no obligation to tell you your being investigated. You could be a target for over a year before you get that phone call. And during that year, there building a case designed to convict you.

The statute of limitations for wire fraud is five years from the last criminal act. If the fraud involved a financial institution, they have ten years. This means prosecutors have plenty of time to build an airtight case. There is no rush. And they dont bring charges untill there confident they’ll win.

What FBI Contact Actually Means for Your Case

OK so lets talk about what different types of FBI contact actualy mean for were you stand.

If FBI executed a search warrant at your home or office, understand this: indictment is coming within 30 to 90 days. Prosecutors dont execute search warrants at the beginning of investigations. They execute them when there 80-90% ready to indict and need final peices of evidence. The search means they already had witness statements, transaction records, and cooperator testimony – enough for probable cause. There collecting trial evidence at that point.

If you recieved a target letter, the situation is even more clear. A target letter is formal notification that your the target of a federal grand jury investigation. It means prosecutors have substantial evidence linking you to a suspected federal crime. Indictment is likley. The letter will reference specific statutes – probly 18 USC 1343 for wire fraud. It will inform you of your Fifth Amendment rights. And it will often invite you to testify before the grand jury.

Do not testify before a grand jury without an attorney. Your statements can and will be used against you. There is no judge present to protect you. The prosecutor runs the show. And anything you say – any inconsistancy, any detail you get wrong – becomes more evidence.

If FBI just called and left a message, you have more time but not much. The fact that there reaching out directly means there ready to move. They want an interview becuase the interview creates evidence. Either you confirm what they already beleive, or you say something wrong and they add false statement charges. Either way, they win.

The timeline for wire fraud investigations varies considerably. Complex cases involving international schemes can take years. Straightforward business fraud cases usualy complete within 12-18 months. But heres the uncomfortable truth: if there calling you, the investigation is basicly done. Your not at the beginning. Your at the end.

The Cooperation Decision

Theres a thing in federal criminal defense called a proffer agreement. Sometimes called “Queen for a Day.” Its a meeting were you and your attorney meet with prosecutors and you tell them everything you know. In exchange, they agree not to use your statements directly against you.

Sounds great, right? Heres were people get destroyed.

First, anything you say can be used “derivatively.” Meaning if you mention a document during the proffer, they can subpoena that document. If you mention a witness, they can interview that witness. Your statements cant be quoted against you, but everything your statements lead to can be.

Second, if you lie during the proffer – even by accident, even about something small – the entire agreement is void. Everything you said becomes admisable. And you get charged with making false statements on top of it. Your cooperation credit? Gone. Your chance at a reduced sentence? Gone. You actualy made things worse by trying to help.

The consequence cascade looks like this:

1. FBI calls
2. You panic and delete some emails
3. FBI finds evidence you deleted emails
4. Now obstruction of justice is added
5. You agree to cooperate
6. During proffer you misremember when you first learned about the scheme
7. Prosecutors catch the inconsistancy
8. False statement charge added
9. Cooperation agreement void
10. Original wire fraud charge now includes “conciousness of guilt” evidence from the deletion

You started with one problem. You now have four.

Average cooperation credit is 35-45% sentence reduction. But you could be in “cooperation limbo” for 18-24 months before sentencing – testifying at other peoples trials, doing more interviews, maybe wearing a wire. Its not a simple transaction. Its a commitment that takes over your life. And if anything goes wrong, it all collapses.

What You Should Actually Do

The single most important thing you can do is stop talking. To the FBI. To your spouse. To your business partners. To your friends. The only person you should discuss this with is a federal criminal defense attorney protected by attorney-client priviledge.

Heres specifically what to do:

If FBI calls, do not answer. Do not return the call. Get the agents name and number from the voicemail. Give that information to your attorney. Let your attorney handle all communication.

If FBI shows up at your door, you can say: “I dont answer questions without my attorney present. Heres my attorneys card. Please contact them.” Then close the door. This is not obstruction. This is not suspicious. This is exercising your constitutional rights. The Fifth Amendment exists specificaly to protect you in this situation.

If you recieve a target letter, contact an attorney immediatly. Do not respond to the letter yourself. Do not contact the prosecutor. Do not testify before the grand jury without representation. You have rights. Use them.

Do not destroy documents. Do not delete emails. Do not wipe your phone. These actions create additional charges and evidence of “conciousness of guilt.” Even if the underlying wire fraud charge is weak, obstruction of justice is easy to prove. You dont want to give prosecutors an easy win.

The question isnt “should I cooperate?” The real question is: do they already have enough to convict me, and is the interview just designed to add false statement charges? An experienced federal defense attorney can help you understand were you actualy stand and what options make sense for your specific situation.

The Stakes Are Real

Wire fraud convictions have reached record levels. FY 2023 saw over 1,300 prosecutions – the highest since tracking began in the 1980s. Over 1,100 convictions. The federal government is prosecuting more wire fraud cases then ever before, and winning 88% of them.

The penalties are severe:

• Up to 20 years per count
• Up to 30 years if the fraud involves a financial institution
• Fines up to $250,000 for individuals
• Restitution for the full amount of the fraud

And these sentences stack. Multiple counts mean multiple decades.

Jeffrey Skilling got 24 years for the Enron collapse. Bernard Ebbers got 25 years for the WorldCom fraud – the largest accounting fraud in American history at the time. Do Kwon just got 15 years for his crypto scheme that caused $40-60 billion in investor losses. These are real sentences for real wire fraud convictions. The federal system dosent do probation for serious fraud cases. It does prison. And these sentences happen more often then people realize – over 1,100 wire fraud convictions in a single year.

But heres the part that should scare you most: many people serving federal sentences for wire fraud made there situations dramaticaly worse by talking. By trying to explain. By cooperating without understanding the risks. The original charge became multiple charges. The possible sentence became the maximum sentence. All becuase they thought talking would help.

If the FBI called you about wire fraud, the time to act is now. Not after the interview. Not after you accidentaly say something wrong. Not after your words – or the agents interpretation of your words – become evidence. Now. Before you say anything to anyone.

This is not the time to hope things work out. This is the time to protect yourself. Get an attorney. Exercise your rights. And understand that the person calling to “help clear things up” is not your friend. There a federal agent building a case. And everything you say can and will be used against you.