What to do if you have been scammed: complete recovery guide

Key takeaways

Do the money first, the information second, the report third, and the feelings last. Each has a different clock.
Contact the bank, card issuer, app, or gift card company you paid through before anything else. Say the word fraud.
Credit cards can be disputed. Bank transfers, payment apps, wires, gift cards, and crypto are hard or impossible to reverse, but you must still ask, and quickly.
If you shared a password, code, or Social Security number, secure your email first, then freeze your credit for free.
Anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to recover your money for a fee is running a second scam.

Read this first

You are not stupid, and you are not alone. In 2025 about 3 million people reported fraud to the FTC, and the agency estimates that most losses are never reported at all. Scams are written by professionals and tested until they work on careful people. What matters now is the next hour.

There are four jobs, and they have different clocks:

The money. Minutes to hours. A payment that has not settled can sometimes be stopped.
The information. Hours to a day. A shared password or code can be used right now.
The report. Days. It supports your dispute and helps investigators, but it does not have a deadline measured in minutes.
The feelings. Weeks. They are real, and they come last only because the other three are time critical.

If you want the shortest possible version, the already clicked or paid? page has it. This guide is the complete one.

Step 1: Stop contact

Do not reply, argue, or warn the scammer. Do not send "one last payment to release the funds". If you are on the phone, hang up. If they call back, let it ring. Block the number and the account afterwards, once you have saved the evidence in step 4.

Step 2: Deal with the money

Contact the company you paid through, using a number from your card, your statement, or the official app. Never a number from the scam. Say: "This was fraud. I want this transaction stopped, reversed, or disputed." Get a reference number.

How you paid	Who to call	What to ask for	Realistic chance
Credit card	Card issuer	Dispute the charge, new card number	Good
Debit card	Your bank	Dispute the charge, new card	Fair if fast
Bank transfer someone else made from your account	Your bank	Unauthorized transfer claim	Good if reported within 2 business days
Bank transfer or Zelle you sent yourself	Your bank's fraud team	Recall, contact the receiving bank, impostor scam reimbursement	Low, but ask in writing
Venmo, Cash App, PayPal	The app, then the funding bank or card	Cancel or reverse, then dispute at the bank	Low to fair
Wire transfer	Bank's wire department, then IC3.gov the same day	Wire recall, fraud freeze	Low, and falls sharply after a day
Gift card	The card's issuer (the brand on the card)	Freeze the balance, refund	Low unless within minutes
Cryptocurrency	The exchange you sent from, then IC3.gov	Flag the receiving address	Very low
Cash or a package	USPS Inspection Service 1-877-876-2455, or the courier	Intercept the package	Very low
A check you wrote	Your bank	Stop payment	Fair before it clears
A check you deposited for someone	Your bank, immediately	Warn them, do not send anyone money from it	The check will bounce and be charged to you

Two rules that apply to every row:

Unauthorized versus tricked. If someone else moved your money, say so clearly. Federal rules protect unauthorized transfers strongly. If you sent the money yourself because you were lied to, the bank has more room to refuse, so put your claim in writing and ask about reimbursement policies for impostor scams.
If the bank refuses and you think that is wrong, complain to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Banks are required to respond.

The full detail for each method is in how to get your money back after a scam.

Step 3: Deal with the information

Work through whatever you shared.

You shared a password

Change it on the real site now, then on every other site where you used it. Turn on two-factor sign-in. Start with your email account, because whoever controls your email can reset every other password.

You shared a one-time code

Act within minutes. A code can approve a login, a payment, or adding your card to someone else's phone. Call the real company through its app or the number on your card, say a code was shared with a scammer, and ask them to check for new devices, payees, and transfers.

You shared card or bank details

Call the card issuer or bank, ask for a new card or account number, and turn on transaction alerts.

You shared your Social Security number, a photo of your ID, or your date of birth

Place a free credit freeze with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. It stops most new accounts being opened in your name and does not affect your score. Make a recovery plan at IdentityTheft.gov. Ask the IRS for an Identity Protection PIN. Check your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com.

You gave someone remote access to your device

Disconnect it from the internet. From a different device, change your email and banking passwords. Later, remove the remote access program, update the system, and run a security scan, or take it to a repair shop you choose yourself. Never call a number from a pop-up.

You shared your Medicare number

Call 1-800-MEDICARE and watch your statements for services you did not receive.

The full checklist, including what a freeze does and does not do, is in freeze your credit and lock down your accounts.

Step 4: Save the evidence

Before you delete or block anything, collect:

Dates and amounts of each payment, and how each was made
Phone numbers, email addresses, usernames, website addresses, wallet addresses
Transaction numbers, gift card numbers and receipts, tracking numbers
Screenshots of messages, profiles, ads, and any documents they sent
Reference numbers from every call you make from now on

Do not include your own passwords or full card numbers in anything you send to anyone.

Step 5: Report it

In this order:

ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Five to ten minutes. Shared with law enforcement nationwide.
IC3.gov if the internet was involved in any way. Include bank and wallet details. For wire transfers, file the same day.
IdentityTheft.gov if personal information was exposed or used.
Your state attorney general, and your state securities regulator for investment fraud.
The specific agency for the scam: oig.ssa.gov for Social Security impersonators, tigta.gov for IRS impersonators, the platform where you met a romance or job scammer, 7726 for scam texts.
Local police if you lost money, were threatened, or need a report number for a bank or insurer.

The full directory is in how to report a scam.

Step 6: Expect the second wave

Your details are now on a list. In the weeks after a loss, people are contacted by:

"Investigators" or "the bank's security team" who need your login to trace the money
"Fund recovery agents" or lawyers who can get it back for a fee
The original scammer, with one more fee to release your balance

All of these are scams. Government agencies never charge to help, and no one can guarantee recovery. Read the recovery scam guide, and tell your family so that a call to a parent or partner is recognized.

Step 7: Look after yourself

People who have been scammed describe shame, anger, sleeplessness, and a loss of trust in their own judgment. That is a normal reaction to being deceived by a professional, not evidence of a flaw. Some practical things help:

Tell one person you trust. The calls in steps 2 to 5 are easier with company, and secrecy is what the scammer wanted.
Write a one-page timeline of what happened. It helps with every conversation that follows and it stops the story replaying in your head.
Do not chase a secret solution. There is no private service that can do what banks and law enforcement cannot.
Talk to a professional if the loss is affecting your sleep, mood, or relationships. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, call or text 988 at any hour.

Special situations

The person scammed is an older relative

Deal with the payment together, from a number you both trust. Ask "what did they say?" rather than "how could you?". Expect the scammer to call back, sometimes daily. The guide to talking with parents about scams covers what to say, and the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline (877-908-3360) and the Justice Department's Elder Fraud Hotline (833-372-8311) can advise.

A business or nonprofit paid a fake invoice

Call the bank's fraud department for a recall, file at IC3.gov the same day with the beneficiary account details, warn the real supplier, and secure email accounts. See invoice and payroll fraud.

Intimate images are involved

Do not pay. Stop contact, save evidence, report to the platform and the FBI. For anyone under 18, NCMEC's Take It Down service can help; for adults, StopNCII.org. See the blackmail and sextortion guide.

You deposited a check for someone

Tell your bank immediately and do not send anyone money from it. The check will bounce, and the bank will take the amount back from your account.

After the dust settles

Review the settings that would have helped: transaction alerts, two-factor sign-in, a credit freeze that stays on, a daily transfer limit.
Agree a family rule: any request for money, codes, remote access, or secrecy gets a call back on a saved number.
Learn the pattern that caught you. Our complete guide to types of scams covers every one, and the free family guide puts the plan on paper.
Consider telling your story where it can help someone else, such as our report form. Details are reviewed and published only as a redacted summary.

Common questions

What should I do first if I have been scammed?

Stop contact with the scammer and call the company you paid through, using the number on your card, statement, or official app. Tell them it was fraud and ask for the payment to be stopped, reversed, or disputed. Do this before gathering evidence or filing reports, because a payment that has not settled can sometimes still be stopped.

Can I get my money back after being scammed?

Sometimes. Credit card payments can usually be disputed. Unauthorized bank and debit transfers are protected by federal law if reported promptly. Payments you made yourself because you were tricked are harder to recover, but banks and payment networks do sometimes reimburse impostor scams, so always ask and ask in writing.

How long do I have to report a scam to my bank?

Report immediately. For unauthorized debit or bank transfers, federal rules limit your liability most if you report within 2 business days, and you can lose protection after 60 days from your statement. For credit card billing errors, write to the issuer within 60 days of the statement that shows the charge.

Should I tell the police?

Yes if you lost money, if your identity was used, or if you were threatened. Local police may not investigate an online scam, but a report number helps with banks and insurers. Report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov in every case, and to the FBI at IC3.gov if the scam involved the internet.

Will the scammers come back?

Often. People who have paid once are contacted again by the same group or by 'recovery agents' who bought their details. For several months, treat any call or message about your loss as suspect unless you started it, and tell your family to expect the same.

Official sources and further reading

Published September 30, 2026, last updated September 30, 2026. This guide is general education for people in the United States. It is not legal or financial advice, and it cannot tell you whether a particular message or person is genuine. Spot an error? Tell us.

What to do if you have been scammed: the complete recovery guide, by what happened