What To Do if You've Been Scammed
The Department of Justice estimates that only 15 percent of fraud victims report their scams to law enforcement. If you are a victim of fraud, it’s important to remember that you are not alone—and you don’t have to deal with the consequences of being scammed on your own, either.
Below are resources available to help you recover lost funds, secure your identity and credit and prevent further scams.
10 Steps To Take After Being Scammed
Once you realize you’ve been scammed or see the warning signs of identity theft and fraud, the most important thing you can do is not blame yourself. Scammers manipulate, isolate and threaten their victims—resulting in both financial and emotional damage.
Don’t let frustration or fear of being judged prevent you from taking these necessary steps to protect yourself and recover from fraud.
1. Stop paying scammers and break off contact.
It may seem obvious, but as soon as you realize you’ve been lured into a scam, you need to stop sending the fraudsters any more money and break off contact immediately.
As much as it hurts to accept, the truth is that any money you’ve sent to a scammer is gone. You may be able to recover it later, but only if you go through the proper channels.
Don’t call out the scammer until you’ve collected evidence of the scam. While you may feel the urge to lash out at the fraudsters, this allows them to hide their tracks. It may even hinder your ability to recover any lost money.
2. Collect evidence of the scam.
The more information you can provide to investigators and affected companies, the better your chance of recovering lost funds. Depending on how you were contacted by the scammer, you’ll want to collect:
- Screenshots of messages, contact information and profiles. This can include social media profiles and direct messages, fake text messages, phone numbers from which you received calls, URLs for phishing websites and even physical copies of letters, fake checks, etc.
- Documentation of fraudulent transactions and financial losses. This includes receipts, loan or credit denials, bank statements, money orders, etc. Tally up the total amount that scammers took from each account, stolen credit cards, etc.
- Recovery logs that detail whom you spoke with or emailed about the fraudulent activity on your accounts. Try to record the date, time, names and what was said.
You’ll need all this information to file your report, aid investigators and seek restitution for damages. It’s also smart to retain this documentation for your records, should something else come up.
3. Notify your bank and any impacted companies.
Many financial institutions set time limits on how quickly you need to report fraud to be refunded for any lost funds.
Start by contacting your bank, credit card company, credit unions and any other impacted companies and notify them of the fraud. Ask them to close your accounts and issue new credit and debit cards to you, as well as updated bank account numbers.
If the fraudster managed to open accounts with other companies, you’ll need to contact their fraud departments. Ask them to freeze the fraudulent accounts and send you letters or emails confirming that the accounts were not opened by you and that you aren’t liable for any purchases or transactions.
Pro Tip: As the victim of fraud or identity theft, you have special rights under the Federal Government’s Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This includes disputing inaccurate information on your credit report and getting copies of any fraudulent transactions.
4. Freeze your credit with all three bureaus.
If you’ve given any of your personal information to scammers, they may try to use it to open new accounts or take out loans in your name.
A credit freeze prevents anyone from accessing your credit file. This effectively stops any new credit accounts from being opened in your name. Credit freezes are free, won’t impact your credit score and can be lifted whenever you need to access your credit files.
You’ll also get copies of your credit reports when you freeze your credit, allowing you to look for mistakes or fraudulent transactions that you can dispute.
To freeze your credit, you need to contact each of the three major credit bureaus individually:
Why not request a fraud alert? Victims of identity theft and fraud can also ask for a fraud alert to be placed on their credit files. However, this is less secure because it only suggests that lenders verify your identity before extending credit to you. A credit freeze offers much more effective protection and requires only minimally more effort to initiate.
5. Secure your identity and online accounts.
If you’ve disclosed passwords or personal information to scammers, you’ll want to make sure they can’t continue using your data.
- Update all sensitive accounts with strong and unique passwords—ideally at least 10 characters long and comprising a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Use a secure password keeper to keep track of all of your passwords and alert you about compromised accounts.
- Enable two-factor authentication on your accounts. This is an added layer of security that requires a special one-time-use code, along with your password, to access accounts.
6. Report the scam to the proper authorities and agencies.
It’s important that you report fraud to the proper authorities—both for your own recovery and to help prevent scammers from targeting other victims.
Here are a few of the agencies you’ll want to contact, depending on what information has been compromised or stolen.
- Report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Leaked sensitive data can lead to identity theft. File an online report with the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov to get a free recovery plan and proof that you’re a victim.
- Report fraud and scams to the FTC and FBI. Provide details of the fraud to the FTC by visiting ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at IC3.gov.
- File a Police Report with local law enforcement if your bank requires it or if you have information that you think could lead to an arrest of the fraudster.
- Report SSN theft to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Create an account with the SSA to review claimed earnings and warn you if someone may be using your Social Security number.
- Report driver’s license leaks to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If scammers have your ID, you’ll want to contact the DMV and ask for a “Verify ID” flag on your driving record. This informs law enforcement that your identity has been compromised or stolen.
- Report tax fraud to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). If scammers used your information to file taxes in your name, fill out an Identity Theft Affidavit, print it and mail it with your tax return.
You can also speak to someone on the phone at FTC’s fraud hotline at 877.382.4357.
7. Check to see if you have insurance coverage.
You may have identity theft protection insurance that can cover some of the eligible losses and costs associated with recovering from fraud. Some plans also provide personalized help throughout the recovery process. Recovering from fraud can be time-consuming and frustrating. If you have coverage, use it.
8. Dispute fraudulent transactions and try to recover lost funds.
Fraudsters can ruin your credit score and empty your bank account. As a victim, you’re entitled to dispute any fraudulent transactions, new accounts or changes that you didn’t authorize. Most companies have their own processes for dealing with fraud, so you’ll want to follow up with each one and provide them with your FTC and police reports.
You can also dispute incorrect information on your credit report and even stop debt collection companies from contacting you.
When it comes to recovering lost funds, the process depends on how you paid.
Did you pay with a credit card or debit card? Contact the company or bank that issued the credit card or debit card. Tell them it was a fraudulent charge. Ask them to reverse the transaction and give you your money back.
Did a scammer make an unauthorized transfer from your bank account? Contact your bank and tell them it was an unauthorized debit or withdrawal. Ask them to reverse the transaction and give you your money back.
Did you pay with a gift card? Contact the company that issued the gift card. Tell them it was used in a scam and ask them to refund your money. Keep the gift card itself and the gift card receipt.
Did you send a wire transfer through a company like Western Union or MoneyGram? Contact the wire transfer company. Tell them it was a fraudulent transfer. Ask them to reverse the wire transfer and give you your money back.
Did you send a wire transfer through your bank? Contact your bank and report the fraudulent transfer. Ask them to reverse the wire transfer and give you your money back.
Did you send money through a money transfer app? Report the fraudulent transaction to the company behind the money transfer app and ask them to reverse the payment. If you linked the app to a credit card or debit card, report the fraud to your credit card company or bank. Ask them to reverse the charge.
Did you pay with cryptocurrency? Cryptocurrency payments typically are not reversible. Once you pay with cryptocurrency, you can only get your money back if the person you paid sends it back. But contact the company you used to send the money and tell them it was a fraudulent transaction. Ask them to reverse the transaction, if possible.
Did you send cash? If you sent cash by U.S. mail, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877.876.2455 and ask them to intercept the package. To learn more about this process, visit USPS Package Intercept: The Basics.
If you used another delivery service, contact them as soon as possible.
9. Beware of recovery scammers and other common scams.
While looking for resources, you’ll most likely come across individuals and companies claiming to be able to help you recover your money, cryptocurrencies or other losses. Be very careful here as many of these companies are scammers looking to target recent victims.
Before you engage with a company, look for these red flags of a recovery scam:
- They ask for payment upfront—not only is this a warning sign, it’s illegal
- They ask for personal information or account passwords
- They claim to have “special” access to government officials, agencies, or companies
- They tell you to keep the process a secret
- The “company” uses a Gmail or other free email service to do business
10. Look after your mental health.
While there are clear steps that you can follow to resolve your financial and safety concerns after being scammed, it’s not always as easy to handle emotional damage.
As a victim, you might feel angry and embarrassed that you were “tricked.” But the truth is that anyone can get scammed—and there’s no shame in reporting what happened to you as well as warning others.
As you work through these recovery steps, remember to check in on yourself.
- Don’t blame yourself. This will only prevent you from reporting the scam and getting the help that you need.
- Reach out to trusted family members. Don’t let fear of judgment stop you from asking for help from loved ones. They will likely want to help you and ensure that you don’t have to deal with this on your own. It can also help to have a set of fresh eyes look at the situation.
- Focus on what you can control. You can only do so much to recover from fraud and help prevent it in the future. Trying to do too much or influence things outside of your control can be incredibly frustrating.
- Set boundaries. It takes time to recover from fraud—both financially and emotionally. Be kind to yourself and set boundaries on what you will and won’t do as you work through these recovery steps.