Freeze & Report
If you are hit, act fast: stop the bleeding, keep the evidence, report it.
Realising you've been scammed is the worst moment — and the most important one. What you do in the first hour shapes how much you lose and how much you recover. Freeze & Report is the order to act in when your stomach drops: stop the bleeding, keep the evidence, then report. Speed beats shame every time.
The first hour is the one that counts
When you realise it's a scam, the instinct is to freeze up — embarrassed, hoping it'll sort itself out. That pause is exactly what costs people money. The FTC's guidance for victims is blunt about timing: "the quicker you act, the better your chance" of limiting the damage and getting money back.
So treat the moment of realisation as a starting gun, not a verdict on you. Scammers count on shame keeping you quiet long enough for the money to clear and the trail to go cold. Acting fast — even imperfectly — is what takes that advantage away.
Freeze: stop the bleeding
First, cut off whatever the scammer can still reach. If money has moved, call your bank or card issuer immediately — time matters, because some transfers can still be halted or pulled back. The FBI's advice when funds have gone is direct: "time is of the essence," so "immediately contact your financial institution and request a recall of the funds."
If you handed over a password, change it now — and anywhere you reused it. If your identity or Social Security number is exposed, place a credit freeze: the CFPB explains a freeze "stops new creditors from accessing your credit file," which "can stop identity thieves from opening new accounts in your name," and you can "freeze and unfreeze your credit file for free." Note its limit — a freeze "doesn't prevent identity thieves from taking over existing accounts" — so watch the accounts you already have, too.
Keep the evidence
Before you delete anything in anger, save it. Screenshot the texts, emails, and chats; note the phone numbers, usernames, and any website addresses; keep receipts, transaction references, and the times things happened. This record is what your bank needs to dispute a charge and what investigators need to act.
Reporting tools are built around this: the FTC's IdentityTheft.gov lets you "generate the letters and forms you need, track your progress, and keep detailed records of people you've talked to." The more you preserve now, while it's fresh, the stronger every step that follows.
Report — to your bank and the authorities
Tell your bank or card issuer first, because they're the ones who can dispute, recall, or reissue. Then report to the right official channel so it counts toward investigations and your own recovery. In the US: identity theft goes to IdentityTheft.gov (which builds you a free, personalised recovery plan), scams and bad business practices to ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and online crime or money loss to the FBI at IC3.gov. The CFPB's victim checklist is the same shape: "place fraud alerts or security freezes on your credit reports, file a report at IdentityTheft.gov."
One hard rule for afterwards: never pay anyone who promises to recover your money for a fee. The FTC warns that someone offering to "help" you get back what you lost is "probably dealing with a fake refund scam." Real reporting is free — a recovery fee is just the second scam.
- Act now, not later — the sooner you move, the more you can limit and recover. Don’t let embarrassment cost you the first hour.
- If money moved, call your bank or card issuer immediately and ask them to stop or recall the payment.
- Change any password you gave up, and every place you reused it. If your identity is exposed, place a free credit freeze.
- Save the evidence before deleting anything: screenshots, numbers, usernames, web addresses, receipts, and transaction references.
- Report to your bank and the right authority (IdentityTheft.gov, ReportFraud.ftc.gov, or IC3.gov) — and never pay a fee to "recover" funds.
Sources
Frequently asked
I’m embarrassed I fell for it. Do I really need to report it?
Yes — and the embarrassment is exactly what scammers rely on. Reporting is free, it can help you recover money and repair your identity, and it feeds investigations that protect other people. Anyone can be caught by a well-built scam; staying quiet only helps the person who did it. The quicker you report, the better your odds.
Does a credit freeze fix everything?
No — it's one layer, not a cure. A freeze stops thieves from opening new accounts in your name, and it's free to place and lift. But the CFPB notes it "doesn't prevent identity thieves from taking over existing accounts," so you still need to watch the accounts you already have, change exposed passwords, and consider a fraud alert. Freeze and report together, not freeze alone.
Someone contacted me offering to get my lost money back for a fee. Should I?
No. Don't pay and don't share details — the FTC warns that an offer to "help" recover money you've already lost is probably a fake refund scam. Recovery pitches deliberately target people who were just scammed. Report the original loss through official channels (IdentityTheft.gov, ReportFraud.ftc.gov, or IC3.gov), which never charge a fee, and ignore the recovery offer.