What happens after you report a scam.

Reporting and getting money back are separate

A report helps the authorities. Recovering money usually goes through your bank or card company.

Every reporting body on this page says much the same about its own role. A report is recorded, used to find patterns and shared with police or law enforcement. None of them says it will investigate every individual report or get your money back. The steps that can stop or reverse a payment are taken with the bank, card company or payment service you used, and several of the bodies say to contact them first.

This page explains what each body says happens next, country by country, as its own pages said on the review date. It does not tell you what will happen to your report or whether you will get money back.

If it has only just happened, If you’ve been scammed in Money basics covers the first hour. If the scam began with a link in an email or text at work, After a phishing click covers that.

United States

The national reporting site is ReportFraud.ftc.gov, run by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

What happens to your report

• What happens to the report. The FTC says reports go into its Consumer Sentinel database, which federal, state and local law enforcement can use. It uses reports to investigate and bring cases, spot trends and educate the public.
• Whether your case is investigated. The FTC says it can’t resolve reports on behalf of individuals, can’t respond to each report individually, and can’t give updates on reports. If it brings a case and gets money back for people, it says it will try to contact those who lost money.
• A reference number. When you submit, the FTC says you can print or save a copy of the report, which includes the report number. If you leave the page without saving it, you can’t get a copy later; if you gave an email address, you get an email with the report number and next steps, but not the report itself.
• Adding information later. The FTC says to file a new report and put the earlier report number in the comments.
• Documents. The FTC says it can’t take uploaded messages: you can paste the text into the report’s comments, and it says to hold on to your documents because law enforcement might ask for them.
• If the FTC calls. The FTC says it typically doesn’t, and that anyone who really calls about your report will have the reference number you were given.
• Other places to report. The FTC says you can also report to your state attorney general or local consumer protection agency. By phone, its Consumer Response Center is on 877-382-4357.

Getting money back is a separate step

• Card payments. The FTC says you can file a dispute, also called a chargeback, with your credit or debit card company, follow up in writing to the address for billing disputes, and keep letters, notes and emails about the scam.
• Bank transfers. The FTC says to contact your bank immediately, ask whether it can stop the transaction or recover the money, and give it the account number the money went to. If the bank won’t help, it points to a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• Other ways of paying. For gift cards, wire transfers, money orders and cash sent by mail, the FTC says to contact the company that issued the card or handled the payment, or the delivery service, right away. It says a wire transfer is unlikely to be reversed, but that it is important to ask.
• How the two fit together. The FTC says that after you report, it gives you steps that depend on how you paid, and that the quicker you act, the better the chance of getting money back. It also says that once money reaches a scammer it is often gone.

United Kingdom

Report Fraud is the national reporting service for fraud and cyber crime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, run by the City of London Police. It says that in Scotland you report to Police Scotland on 101.

What happens to your report

• A reference number. Report Fraud says that after you make a report, online or on 0300 123 2040, you are given a crime reference number.
• What happens to the report. It describes four stages: the report is made; it is assessed against other reports for patterns, links and possible suspects, and stored and re-assessed if it can’t be taken further yet; it may be reviewed by its Crime Services team if there are opportunities for further action; and, if there are strong lines of enquiry, it may be passed to a police force to consider a criminal investigation.
• Whether your case is investigated. Report Fraud says the police can’t investigate every report individually, and that the information is used to build intelligence about who is committing fraud and against whom. Some reports are recorded as “information reports”: it says those are passed to the police but not investigated. It also says Report Fraud itself has no investigative powers.
• Adding information later. With an online account, Report Fraud says you can sign in, open My Reports and choose View or Update. Registering also lets you track a report’s progress and get updates by email; as a guest you get updates only by email or post.
• Support. Report Fraud says you can choose to have your details passed to Victim Support, a national charity, which then contacts you to offer free emotional support and practical help.

Getting money back is a separate step

• The bank comes first. Report Fraud says that if debit or credit cards, online banking or cheques are involved, your first step should be to contact your bank or credit card company. Reporting to Report Fraud is a separate step.

Canada

In Canada you report to your local police and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), online through the Report Cybercrime and Fraud system or by phone.

What happens to your report

• Who investigates. The CAFC says it is the role of your local police to investigate. The CAFC keeps a central store of information to help investigations, and shares what you report with law enforcement, including the RCMP’s National Cybercrime Coordination Centre.
• What happens to the report. The CAFC says reports can link crimes together, in Canada and abroad, help move an investigation forward, and show crime trends for prevention and awareness. You can report anonymously.
• A reference number. The CAFC says to report to your local police and get a file number for future reference. Its pages we opened don’t say whether a report to the CAFC itself gets a number.
• Adding information later. The Report Cybercrime and Fraud site has an option to update a report. The CAFC says that if you find suspicious activity on your credit report, you update your file with the police.
• By phone. The CAFC answers on 1-888-495-8501, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Eastern time.

Getting money back is a separate step

• The financial institution. The CAFC says to report the incident to the financial institution that transferred the money. For identity fraud, it says to place flags on your accounts, change your passwords and report to both credit bureaus.

Australia

In Australia, Scamwatch, part of the National Anti-Scam Centre, takes scam reports. Where money or personal information was stolen through an online scam, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) takes a cybercrime report and sends it to the police.

What happens to your report

• What happens to a Scamwatch report. Scamwatch says reports help it identify the most harmful scams and understand how scammers work. It shares reports with Australian and international law enforcement and other government organizations to help them investigate and prosecute, and, with your consent, works with organizations to remove scam websites, ads and contact details.
• What happens to a police report. ASD says it sends a cybercrime report to the police for review, and that while they may not be able to respond to every report, the information helps support investigations.
• If they contact you. Scamwatch says it may contact you about a scam, only from an email address ending in gov.au, and that it will never ask for money or personal or financial information.
• A reference number and adding information. The Scamwatch and ASD pages we opened don’t say whether you get a reference number or how to add information to a report later.

Getting money back is a separate step

• The bank comes first. Scamwatch says to contact your bank or card provider immediately and ask them to stop any transactions, then report once your details are secure. ASD says your bank may be able to close your account or stop a transaction, and to call it on the official number on its website.
• If you’re unhappy with the bank. Scamwatch says you can complain to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
• Recovery support. Scamwatch points to IDCARE, the free national identity and cyber support service, which can help you make a plan to limit the damage.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, Consumer Protection (part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) points people to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to report scams, and to New Zealand Police’s 105 service to report money lost in a scam.

What happens to your report

• What happens to an NCSC report. The NCSC says it can help you work out what happened, give advice to limit the damage, and tell you what to do to recover. It uses reports to issue advisories and alerts, and in some cases works with other agencies to remove the threat, for example by getting websites taken down.
• Sharing your report. The NCSC says it will refer you to a partner agency if that agency is better placed to act, and that it always asks for your consent before sharing details of your report.
• A reference number and adding information. The NCSC and Consumer Protection pages we opened don’t say whether you get a reference number or how to add information later. We could not open New Zealand Police’s 105 pages on the review date.

Getting money back is a separate step

• The bank comes first. Consumer Protection says to contact your bank immediately, and that the sooner your bank knows, the greater the likelihood of getting money back. It says to check the identity of anyone who contacts you claiming to be from your bank before sharing information.

India and the Philippines

Coverage here is partial.

Moraph has offices in India and the Philippines too, but we could not open the national reporting bodies’ own pages on the review date, so this page does not describe what happens after a report there. Free help by country lists the official services we have checked, and Official or not? explains how to check that a reporting site is genuine.

What the bodies say to keep

Several of them say the same thing: keep the record, because someone may ask for it later.

• United States. The FTC says to hold on to your documents, because law enforcement might ask for them, and to keep letters, notes and emails about the scam for any card dispute.
• United Kingdom. Report Fraud says you can describe evidence such as emails, call or video recordings, screenshots or legal documents in your report, and to keep it somewhere safe in case the police need it. It says it can’t store evidence for you.
• Canada. The CAFC says to gather documents, receipts and copies of emails and text messages.
• Australia. ASD says to record what happened, when, who contacted you, what you received or shared, the platform it happened on and how you responded. Scamwatch says a report needs details such as a screenshot or the text of the message.
• A report number. The FTC says to put your earlier report number in the comments when you add information, and that a genuine FTC caller will have it. The CAFC says to get a file number from your local police for future reference.

Offers to get your money back

The bodies warn about a second scam that often follows the first.

• The FTC says that if someone tells you to send money to get a refund from the FTC or any other government agency, it’s a scam, and that scammers impersonate the FTC.
• Scamwatch says scammers often come back for more after taking money, especially by offering to help get it back.
• ASD says not to trust third parties that offer to recover lost money for you.
• Consumer Protection (New Zealand) says not to give money to anyone on the promise that they will get your lost money back, and that scammers may pretend to be an enforcement agency.

Real or scam? has practice cards for spotting messages like these.