Get help
Who to contact, and in what order
Most people can work out roughly what to do. What is hard, straight after it happens, is knowing what to do first. Some of these steps have a time limit.
Step 1 · Where are you?
Step 2 · What happened?
- I sent money to someoneA transfer, a card payment, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.
- Someone got into one of my accountsEmail, social media, banking, or anything else you log in to.
- Someone is using my identityAccounts opened in your name, or your documents were taken or leaked.
- Someone is threatening to share private imagesSextortion, or images shared without your consent.
- Someone I met online is asking for moneyA partner, an investment tip, or a friend you have never met in person.
- I clicked a link or installed somethingYou are not sure whether any harm was done.
- I am not sure what happenedSomething feels wrong but you cannot name it yet.
Your next steps
In the next hour
Write down what happened, in order, before you forget it
Dates, amounts, who contacted you and how. You will be asked for this by everyone you speak to, and it is much harder to reconstruct a week later.
Do not delete anything yet
The messages, emails and receipts are evidence. People often clear them out of embarrassment, and then cannot prove what happened. Screenshot everything before you change any passwords.
If you still have the message, check it
Our free checker will tell you what looks wrong with it.
Today
Tell one person you trust
Scams work by keeping you isolated, and shame does the rest. Saying it out loud to one person is usually the point where it stops.
Report what you can to the FTC
You do not need to know what it was called to report it.
You are not the only one
I lent my phone hotspot to a stranger at the airport
“I was sitting at Ngurah Rai airport in Bali, just killing time before my flight back. This guy walks up to me pretty…”
These organizations are independent of us. We list them because they are the right people to speak to, not because we are connected to them. If you are in immediate danger, call your local emergency number first.
The full directory
Everything we know about, including international options.
Report a crime
Police and government agencies by country.
Identity and accounts
Help with stolen identity and compromised accounts.
Still stuck?
Send us a message and a person will read it. We cannot recover money or investigate, but we can point you at the right place.