When you report someone to the FBI, your tip lands at the National Threat Operations Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, where trained examiners screen it around the clock and decide what to do with it. That center handles roughly 3,100 calls and electronic tips every day, forwarding credible leads to the field office that covers the area where the activity happened.1Federal Bureau of Investigation. No Average Call From there, your information may open a preliminary inquiry, escalate into a full federal investigation, get referred to state or local police, or sit quietly in a database until it matches something else.
Where Your Tip Goes First
Every tip flows into the same intake pipeline regardless of how you submitted it. The National Threat Operations Center runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and its examiners evaluate three things: how urgent the threat is, whether it describes a federal crime, and which field office should get it.1Federal Bureau of Investigation. No Average Call
Tips involving imminent danger or terrorism get immediate attention. Everything else is processed in the order received. If your report doesn’t describe a federal violation, it’s typically closed at intake or forwarded to a state or local agency that does have jurisdiction.2Criminal Justice Information Services. National Threat Operations Center Information Sharing Initiative Reporting something outside the FBI’s lane doesn’t cause a problem for you. Your information just gets rerouted.
Tips that do describe a federal crime get assigned to the field office covering the geographic area where the activity occurred. The FBI operates 56 field offices across the country and in Puerto Rico.3Federal Bureau of Investigation. Field Offices
How the FBI Decides Whether to Investigate
Preliminary Investigation
When a tip is worth pursuing, the assigned field office opens a preliminary investigation to verify it. Agents at this stage can use grand jury subpoenas to obtain phone records, bank statements, and email logs without a warrant. A preliminary investigation must wrap up within six months, though the Special Agent in Charge can extend it another six months. Any extension beyond one year requires approval from FBI Headquarters.4United States Department of Justice. The Attorney General’s Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations
Full Investigation
If the preliminary inquiry turns up evidence of criminal activity, the case can escalate into a full investigation, which has no preset time limit. Agents may run physical or electronic surveillance. More intrusive steps, like wiretaps or search warrants, require probable cause presented to a judge: proof that a crime has likely been committed and that evidence exists in a specific place. Interviews of witnesses and potential subjects follow strict protocols so the evidence will hold up in federal court.
Referral for Prosecution
If the case is strong enough, the FBI hands it to the Department of Justice, which decides whether to file criminal charges. Not every investigation ends in charges. Some close for lack of evidence, and some produce civil rather than criminal action.
Whether You’ll Hear Back
Probably not, and that’s by design. The FBI doesn’t send status updates or confirm that an investigation is underway. Silence keeps the subject of an investigation from learning about it and destroying evidence or fleeing.
The eventual outcome of your report falls into one of a few buckets: closed because no federal crime was substantiated, referred to another agency with jurisdiction, or pursued as a federal criminal case. You may never learn which. Even so, tips that don’t immediately produce charges still feed the FBI’s broader intelligence picture and can support later investigations when they match new information.
If you’re the victim of the crime you reported and a prosecution moves forward, the Crime Victims’ Rights Act does give you specific rights: timely notice of public court proceedings, notice of any plea deal or deferred prosecution agreement, notice of the accused’s release or escape, the right to be heard at proceedings involving release, plea, or sentencing, and the right to full restitution as provided by law.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3771 – Crime Victims’ Rights The FBI’s Victim Services Division can also connect victims with crisis intervention, emergency travel assistance, and referrals for counseling and housing during an active investigation.6Federal Bureau of Investigation. Victim Services
Whether Your Identity Stays Protected
You can submit a tip anonymously without ever giving your name, or you can identify yourself and ask that your identity stay confidential. The FBI protects reporter information in its records under the Privacy Act, which restricts how federal agencies store and share personal data.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 552a – Records Maintained on Individuals
A second layer sits in the Freedom of Information Act. Even when someone files a FOIA request for law enforcement records, Exemption 7(D) shields the identity of confidential sources who provided information during a criminal or national security investigation. It applies whether confidentiality was explicitly promised or can be reasonably inferred from the circumstances.8eCFR. FOIA Exemption 7 – Law Enforcement
Anonymity has one real limit. If the case goes to trial and your testimony is essential to the government, your identity may have to be disclosed. The Sixth Amendment gives defendants the right to confront the witnesses against them, which can override earlier promises of confidentiality once a case is in court.9Library of Congress. U.S. Constitution – Sixth Amendment Most tipsters never become witnesses, though. Anonymous tips frequently open investigations that go on to develop their own independent evidence.
What Protects You From Retaliation
Federal law treats retaliation against people who report crimes as a serious offense in its own right. Anyone who threatens or intimidates a person for reporting information about a federal crime to law enforcement faces up to 20 years in prison, and up to 30 years for using or attempting physical force.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1512 – Tampering With a Witness, Victim, or an Informant
Federal employees who report waste, fraud, abuse, or dangers to public safety get separate whistleblower protections that bar agencies from retaliating through demotions, unfavorable reviews, reassignments, or changes to pay and benefits. Complaints go to the Office of Special Counsel, which can seek corrective action including back pay and reinstatement.11Office of Personnel Management Office of the Inspector General. Whistleblower Rights and Protections
Private-sector workers have retaliation protections under various federal statutes enforced by OSHA. Filing deadlines are strict and vary by statute, running from 30 days for workplace safety violations up to 180 days for financial industry, transportation, and healthcare-related whistleblowing. Anyone facing retaliation should contact OSHA promptly.12Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program
What Happens If Your Report Was False
Honest mistakes aren’t a crime, and a tip that doesn’t lead to charges isn’t a problem either. Deliberately fabricated information is a different matter. Under federal law, knowingly making a materially false statement to a federal agency carries up to five years in prison, or up to eight years when the false statement involves terrorism.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally The maximum fine is $250,000.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine
Whether You Can Be Paid for the Tip
Some kinds of reports qualify for a financial award. Under the False Claims Act, a person who files a qui tam lawsuit on the government’s behalf exposing fraud against a federal program can receive 15 to 25 percent of what the government recovers when the government joins the case, or 25 to 30 percent when the government declines and the whistleblower carries the case alone.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3730 – Civil Actions for False Claims False Claims Act cases produced over $6.8 billion in settlements and judgments in fiscal year 2025.16United States Department of Justice. False Claims Act Settlements and Judgments Exceed $6.8B in Fiscal Year 2025
The SEC’s whistleblower program pays 10 to 30 percent of money collected when original information leads to an enforcement action with sanctions above $1 million.17U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Whistleblower Program The FBI also offers rewards for information on specific fugitives, with a minimum of $100,000 for individuals on the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and higher amounts in some cases.18Federal Bureau of Investigation. 75th Anniversary of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List