How to Report a Scam

If you've been scammed, act fast — speed matters for both stopping further loss and any chance of recovery. Here's the order of operations.

Stop the bleeding first

If you shared card or bank details, contact your bank or card issuer immediately to freeze/replace the card and flag fraud. If you gave a password, change it everywhere you reused it and enable two-factor authentication.

Gather the evidence

Save everything: messages, emails, receipts, transaction IDs, screenshots, phone numbers, and website URLs. This is what reports and disputes run on.

Report it to the right places

• Your bank or card issuer (for a fraud claim / dispute)
• Government consumer-protection and fraud-reporting agencies
• The platform where it happened (marketplace, social site, payment app)
• Public warnings so others avoid it

Understand recovery is not guaranteed

Card and bank fraud protections give the best shot at recovery; irreversible methods (wire, gift cards, crypto) are much harder. The sooner you report, the better your odds.

Beware "recovery scams"

After a scam, fraudsters may target you again promising to "recover" your funds for a fee. That's a second scam. Legitimate recovery goes through your bank and authorities, never an upfront-fee stranger.