Urgent Action
You have just been scammed out of money: the first 24 hours
The steps that genuinely affect whether money can be recovered, in the order that matters, wherever in the world you are.
Whether any of this money comes back depends far more on how fast you move than on anything else. Not on how much it was, and not on how it happened. So do the first step now and read the rest afterwards.
The first hours
Phone your bank, do not message them
Use the number on the back of your card or on your statement, never a number from a search result or an email. Ask for the fraud team directly.
Use the words "unauthorised payment" or "I was defrauded"
These phrases route your case to the right team. Saying you "made a mistake" can get it logged as a disputed purchase, which is a slower and weaker process.
Ask them to contact the receiving bank
This is the request that actually matters. Ask them to raise a recall or an indemnity claim against the account the money went to, and ask for a reference number.
Write everything down while it is fresh
Do this before you delete anything. Details you think you will never forget go fuzzy within days.
Report it to your national cybercrime or fraud body
A police or agency reference number is what banks, insurers and platforms ask for later. It also feeds the intelligence that gets these operations shut down.
Stop all contact
Do not warn them, do not argue, and do not tell them you have reported it. That only tells them to move the money faster.
Why the phone, and not the app
In app chat queues you wait, and waiting is the one thing that costs you money here. A phone call to the fraud line reaches someone who can put a hold on a transfer while it is in progress. Many banks also have a shorter path if you say the payment was fraudulent rather than that you want to query it.
What to write down
Before you block anyone or delete anything, capture:
- Every amount, the exact date and time, and which account or card each payment left from.
- Where the money went: account name and number, wallet address, or the merchant name shown on your statement.
- Screenshots of the whole conversation, including the profile, the username, and any phone numbers or email addresses.
- The website address, typed out in full, if there was one. Do not visit it again to check.
- Anything they sent you: documents, screenshots of fake balances, photographs.
Screenshot rather than trusting that the chat will still be there. Accounts used for this are deleted or banned constantly, and your evidence goes with them.
Where to report
Reporting channels differ by country, and using the right one matters, because it is often what unlocks the bank's own process. The current list is on our Get help page.
Report even if the amount was small and even if you feel there is no chance of recovery. Patterns across many small reports are what identify a network. Yours is a data point somebody else needs.
If you sent cryptocurrency
Be prepared for hard news: crypto transfers are usually final, and no bank can reverse one. That said, some things are still worth doing, and quickly.
- Report it to the exchange you sent it from, and to the exchange it went to if you can tell. Exchanges can freeze accounts, and they act on fast reports.
- Keep the transaction hash for every payment. It is the one piece of evidence investigators can actually follow.
- If a card or bank transfer was used to buy the crypto in the first place, that leg may still be disputable. Tell your bank about it.
If it was a card payment
Card payments are the best case, because the card networks have a built-in dispute process. Ask your bank specifically about a chargeback. Goods or services that were never delivered, and payments you did not authorise, are both established grounds. There are deadlines, so raise it early rather than waiting to see whether the seller replies.
My bank says I authorised the payment, so that is the end of it. Is it?
Not necessarily. Being tricked into making a payment yourself has a name, authorised push payment fraud, and in a growing number of countries banks are required to consider reimbursing it. Ask for the decision in writing, ask which rules they applied, and ask how to escalate to their complaints process. If that fails, most countries have a free financial ombudsman or regulator that reviews these decisions independently, and they overturn bank decisions regularly.
Someone has contacted me offering to recover my money. Is that ever real?
Effectively never. Genuine recovery happens through your bank, the card networks, the police, or a court, and none of them approach you unprompted in your direct messages. Recovery fraud is a standard second wave, and the lists of who to target come from the first scam. If they ask for an upfront fee, a "release payment", or a tax, it is a scam.
How long do I have to report it?
Report immediately for the best chance of recovery, but do not give up if time has passed. Card chargebacks typically allow a window of months rather than days. Police and fraud agencies accept reports long after the event. Bank reimbursement schemes usually have their own deadlines, which is a reason to start the paperwork now even if you are still gathering evidence.
The thing worth saying plainly: these operations are professional, rehearsed, and designed by people who do this full time to work on careful, intelligent people. Falling for one tells you nothing about your judgement.
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