If you are facing federal charges for fraud or white-collar crime, it is likely that the authorities will be seeking some level of digital evidence. They may use this to confirm your location, for example, or they may want to look at text records and call logs to see who you have been communicating with. Evidence like this becomes very important if you are facing conspiracy charges, for instance, as working with others is a necessary component.
In many cases, the police cannot search your cellphone without either getting your consent or a search warrant. If you are under investigation and they ask for your consent, you are not obligated to unlock your phone and let them look at it. You can tell them that they need to get a warrant first.
Getting information from other entities
That being said, your expectation of privacy is reduced if you have voluntarily shared certain types of digital information with other entities, such as social media companies, cellphone providers or internet service providers.
This often happens when using certain apps or programs on your phone. The cellphone company may be tracking your location, so they have information on where you were at certain times based on the location of your device. A social media company may have records of all the direct messages that you sent, along with other types of communication made on their platform. In many cases, it is possible for the police to get information from these companies, so they do not even need to unlock your phone.
White-collar crime investigations can become very complex and drawn out, so it is crucial that you understand exactly what legal defense options you have at this time.