I think I was scammed

Not sure it was a scam? If money or your bank account was involved, call your bank anyway. They can stop things while you work out the rest.

If it’s happening now

They’re still on the phone, in a chat, or on your computer. Hang up. Stop replying. If they’re connected to your computer, hold the power button until it turns off, and use your phone from here. If they were on your phone, use another one. Steps: Someone is on the line or on my screen right now.

Someone is on the way to pick up cash, gold, or your card. Don’t open the door or hand anything over. Call 911. No real bank, agency, or company sends a courier for any of these.

What to say

• I think I've been scammed. I need to report fraud, stop anything that's still pending, and get a case number.

• I sent money because of a scam. Can you stop it, or ask the bank it went to for it back?

• They used a code I gave them to move money I didn't send. I want it handled as an unauthorized transfer.

• If the answer's no, can you send me that decision in writing, with what you based it on?

If something already left your hands

Work down this list and skip what didn’t happen. Do the first three now. The rest can wait a few hours.

Cut off contact

Hang up, stop replying, and don’t call back or tap anything they sent. Screenshot the conversation before you block them. If they were ever on your computer, turn it off and leave it off, even if the call has ended.

Call your bank or the company you paid

Do this if money left, if they got a code, password, or card number for a bank or card account, or if they were on your computer while you were signed in to your bank.

Call the bank or company involved, on a number you already have: the back of your card, your statement, or inside the app. Not a number from a message or a search result. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment. If they got into your bank account, ask the bank to lock online banking, remove devices you don’t recognize, and check that the phone number and email on file are still yours. Write down the case number, the time, and who you talked to.

• Credit or debit card: the card company.
• Bank transfer, wire, or Zelle: your bank. On the same call, ask them to request it back from the bank it went to.
• Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, or Apple Cash: report it in the app, then call the bank or card it was paid from.
• Western Union or MoneyGram: Western Union 720-945-9351, MoneyGram 1-800-926-9400. If the money hasn’t been picked up, say that first.
• Gift cards: the company on the card. Keep the cards and the receipts.
• Crypto or a Bitcoin ATM: the exchange, or the company that runs the machine.
• Cash or gold, mailed or handed over: Mailed through USPS, request a Package Intercept at usps.com, then call the Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455. Through FedEx or UPS, ask them to intercept it now. Handed to a courier, call local police, or 911 if they’re coming back.

Sent a wire, another bank transfer, or crypto? File at ic3.gov at the same time as you call the bank, with the full transaction details, whatever the amount. The FBI says the complaint center may be able to help freeze the money, and that time matters.

If they say you authorized it. A payment you sent yourself may be treated as authorized, even though you were lied to, and it often isn’t refunded. Ask them to try to get it back anyway, and ask for the decision in writing. Paid by Zelle? Zelle says certain impostor scams qualify for reimbursement. Ask your bank whether yours does. If it’s still no, file a complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. Most companies answer within 15 days.

If someone else moved the money. If the scammer moved it with a code, password, or debit card number you gave them, federal rules (Regulation E) count it as unauthorized, though not for wires. If they typed the payment in themselves while they had control of your computer, tell the bank that.

Paid by card. On a credit card, you can dispute a charge you didn’t make, and one you made yourself if you didn’t get what you paid for. Call the card company, then put it in writing so it reaches them within 60 days after the first statement that shows the charge. On a debit card, report it right away. Wait more than 2 business days after you find out, or 60 days after the statement that shows the charge, and you can end up owing more.

Change passwords from a device they never touched

If you gave them a code or a password, or they were on your computer, change your email password first, then your bank’s, then any account that used the same password. If you read them a code, start with the account it came from. The text or email it came in usually says which one.

Then, in the account’s security settings, sign out devices you don’t recognize and check that the recovery phone number and email are still yours. Later, set up a passkey or an authenticator app where the account offers one. Text-message codes are better than nothing. More: I gave out a code, password, or card number.

Keep that computer off until it’s cleaned

Don’t sign in to anything on it until the program they had you install (AnyDesk, TeamViewer, or similar) is gone and updated security software has run a scan. A repair shop or someone you trust can do this. Steps: I let someone control my computer.

If they got your Social Security number

Freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. It’s free, it doesn’t affect your credit score, and you have to do all three. Lift it when you need to apply for credit.

If someone has already used your information, IdentityTheft.gov builds a recovery plan with you. An IRS Identity Protection PIN stops anyone else filing a tax return with your number.

Save the evidence

Don’t contact them to get more details. Save the messages with their name or number showing, receipts, who you paid, transaction numbers, wallet addresses, gift card numbers, and every case number. The FBI’s complaint form doesn’t take attachments, so keep the originals in case an investigator asks. Save evidence without spiraling.

Report it

• ReportFraud.ftc.gov for any scam. By phone: 877-382-4357.
• ic3.gov (FBI) if it happened online, by text, or by email, or if you lost money after a phone call. Save or print your report as soon as you submit it. IC3 won’t send you a copy.
• IdentityTheft.gov if someone used your name or Social Security number.

Police, your state attorney general, and others: Where to report it.

Get help with the rest

If you’re 60 or older, or helping someone who is, the Justice Department’s National Elder Fraud Hotline gives you a case manager for the reports. It’s free. Scammers pose as the hotline, so you call it, not the other way around.

Any age: the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877-908-3360, is free and talks it through with you. It doesn’t investigate or recover money. If the loss has you thinking about hurting yourself, call or text 988.

What it looks like

You just hung up on a "refund agent." He was connected to your laptop for an hour, and you sent him $1,900 by Zelle. The laptop is still on.

(213) 555-0143

Text Message
Today 4:12 PM

Hello this is Kevin from Refund Dept. Your call got disconnected before the refund was completed. DO NOT turn off or restart your computer, the transaction is still processing and your funds will be lost. Call me back immediately at (213) 555-0143.

What do you do first?

• Call your bank now. The money comes first
• Hold the laptop's power button until it shuts off, then call your bank from your phone
• Leave it on so the bank can see what he did
• Close the remote-access program he had you open, then call your bank

Show the answers

• Okay Call your bank now. The money comes first The bank call is next. But while you're on hold, he may still be connected to the laptop and to anything signed in on it. Turning it off takes seconds.
• Best move Hold the laptop's power button until it shuts off, then call your bank from your phone Hanging up ends the call, not his connection to your laptop. Turning it off does. No real refund depends on your computer staying on.
• Wrong move Leave it on so the bank can see what he did Your bank works from its own records, not your laptop. Leaving it on only gives him more time.
• Wrong move Close the remote-access program he had you open, then call your bank Programs like AnyDesk can keep running in the background after you close the window, and he may have set up more than one way back in. Turning the laptop off cuts him off.

Hanging up doesn't cut off someone who's connected to your computer. Turn it off, then call the bank from another device.

The next morning. You call the number on the back of your card to follow up on the claim you opened yesterday.

(312) 555-0136

Outgoing call · 9:05 AM

1. Rep Fernmont Bank claims, this is Angela. I've pulled up the claim you opened yesterday.
2. Rep The $1,900 Zelle payment was sent from your app, and you confirmed it, so it's treated as an authorized payment. We can't refund it as fraud.
3. Rep I've added notes to your account. Is there anything else I can help you with?

This is your real bank. What do you say?

• "Okay. Thanks for checking."
• "It was unauthorized. I was lied to."
• "Can you ask the bank it went to for it back, and send me this decision in writing?"
• "Never mind. I'll find a company online that gets Zelle payments back."

Show the answers

• Wrong move "Okay. Thanks for checking." That ends it with nothing on paper. You'll want the no in writing for a complaint.
• Okay "It was unauthorized. I was lied to." You were lied to, but the federal rule on unauthorized transfers covers money someone else moved, like with a code you read them. You typed this one in yourself. Ask for the decision in writing either way.
• Best move "Can you ask the bank it went to for it back, and send me this decision in writing?" Even when a bank won't cover the loss, it can ask the bank that received the money to send back what's left. The FBI tells victims to ask for exactly that. The written decision, with the reason, gives you something specific to attach to a CFPB complaint. Paid by Zelle? Zelle says certain impostor scams qualify for reimbursement. Ask your bank whether yours does.
• Wrong move "Never mind. I'll find a company online that gets Zelle payments back." Companies that promise to recover lost money for a fee are a second scam. The FBI says its complaint center doesn't work with law firms or crypto services to recover money.

Payments you sent yourself often aren't refunded. Ask them to try to get it back, get the answer in writing, and take it to the CFPB if it's no.

What they’ll ask for next

People who lost money once get targeted again. Each of these is a second scam.

“This is the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. We’ve recovered your funds.” IC3 says it never contacts people directly, and never asks for payment to recover money. Hang up. To check someone who says they’re with the FBI, look up your local office at FBI field offices and call it yourself.

“We’re a law firm that recovers crypto. Our fee is due before we file.” IC3 doesn’t work with law firms or crypto services to recover money, and no government agency charges you to get a refund. Someone offers to get my money back.

“I’m calling from your bank about your claim. Read me the code we just sent.” Hang up and call the number on your card. Don’t read or forward a code to anyone who contacts you.

“Your computer’s still infected. Let me connect and clean it up.” Hang up. Don’t let anyone connect to your computer again, even to fix it. Use the cleanup steps.

“To release your refund, I need your Social Security number and bank account.” The FTC says real agencies and organizations won’t ask for either to help you get money back.