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Real hotlines and agencies for reporting fraud, matched to your country — no searching required.
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Real hotlines and agencies for reporting fraud, matched to your country — no searching required.
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Every country handles scam and fraud reports differently — different hotlines, different agencies, different next steps. This page automatically shows the right contacts for wherever you are, so you're not stuck searching in the middle of a stressful situation. If you'd like to prevent scams in the first place, try our free security tools or read our 10 online safety tips.
Most scam victims never report. They feel embarrassed, or they assume nothing will happen. Both instincts are wrong. Every report feeds the data that banks, police, and online platforms use to freeze scam accounts, block fraudulent websites, and warn other potential victims. In many countries, a single report is enough to trigger a domain takedown or a bank account freeze that saves the next person.
Contact your bank immediately — before anything else. Then report to the agency shown above. If you paid by gift card, call the card issuer’s fraud line; if by crypto, report the wallet address to the exchange it was sent through. If you are in immediate danger, always call your local emergency number first.
Expect a reference number, an investigation that may take weeks, and honest limits — small losses are rarely recovered, but the report still builds the case files that shut down large operations. You can also warn others by reporting the scam to the platform where it happened (WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and most banks all have in-app reporting), which can suspend the scammer’s account within hours.
Many people do not report fraud. The common reasons are embarrassment, a belief that nothing will be done, or an assumption that small amounts do not matter. All three are understandable and all three are worth pushing past.
Reports matter because fraud is organised. A single report looks like one person's bad day; a hundred reports naming the same phone number, bank account or website is what lets investigators identify a network, get a site taken down, or freeze an account. Reporting is also how banks and platforms learn which patterns to block, which protects people who have not been targeted yet.
And the embarrassment deserves a direct answer: these operations defeat professionals every day. Being deceived by a well-run, well-funded fraud operation is not a character flaw. The people who should feel ashamed are the ones running it.
The more specific you can be, the more useful it is:
Bank transfer. Contact your bank immediately. Recall is sometimes possible if the funds have not been moved on. Many countries also have reimbursement rules for certain kinds of authorised push payment fraud, so ask your bank what applies.
Card payment. Often the best outcome. Card schemes have chargeback processes and time limits, so report promptly.
Gift cards. Call the card issuer straight away with the card numbers and receipts. Funds are occasionally frozen if the card has not been drained. Any request to pay by gift card is fraudulent in every legitimate context.
Cryptocurrency. Recovery is realistically very unlikely. Report anyway — wallet addresses are traceable, and clusters of reports do contribute to investigations and to exchanges freezing accounts.
Expect to be targeted again. Victim lists are traded, and "recovery services" that promise to retrieve your money for an upfront fee are usually the same network coming back for the remainder. No legitimate recovery service asks for money in advance, and no real investigator will contact you out of the blue offering to return your funds.
Keep watching your accounts for several months, especially if identity documents were involved. Consider a fraud alert or credit freeze with the credit agencies in your country. And if the loss was significant, take the emotional side seriously — fraud victims frequently describe it as a violation rather than a transaction, and that reaction is normal and worth talking about.
Yes. Individual reports are how investigators identify patterns across many victims. A phone number or account that appears in dozens of small reports is what gets a network disrupted or a website taken down.
Contact your bank. That step is the most time-sensitive, because recent transfers can sometimes be recalled and card payments disputed. Then secure your email account and preserve the evidence before blocking anyone.
It depends heavily on how you paid and how quickly you act. Card payments are the most recoverable, bank transfers sometimes, gift cards occasionally, and cryptocurrency very rarely. Speed matters more than anything else.
Almost certainly not. Recovery scams specifically target people who have already lost money, often run by the same networks working from victim lists. No legitimate service asks for a fee upfront to recover scammed funds.
Use the agency listed for your country on this page, which is usually the fastest route into the right system. For threats to your safety, or a crime in progress, contact the police directly.