You Think You've Been Scammed. Now What? (2024)

FAQs

You Think You've Been Scammed. Now What? ›

Federal Trade Commission: Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or use the Online Complaint Assistant to report various types of fraud, including counterfeit checks, lottery or sweepstakes scams, and more.

Contact your bank or building society immediately to let them know what's happened and ask if you can get a refund.

Contact the company or bank that issued the credit card or debit card. Tell them it was a fraudulent charge. Ask them to reverse the transaction and give you your money back. Did a scammer make an unauthorized transfer from your bank account?

While banks are generally obligated to refund money lost to fraud, they may deny the refund if you were negligent or involved in the scam.

Talk about what happened

Telling your friends and family about the scam is one of the best ways to take action. It can be hard, but sharing your story is worthwhile because scammers rely on people being secretive. Every person you talk to will be better prepared to avoid scams in the future.

Hang up the phone. Do not reply to emails, messages, or letters that the scammer sends. Do not make any more payments to the scammer. Beware of additional scammers who may contact you claiming they can help you get your lost money back.

The easiest way to become a victim of a bank scam is to share your banking info — e.g., account numbers, PIN codes, social security number — with someone you don't know well and trust. If someone asks for sensitive banking details, proceed with caution.

Write yourself a forgiveness letter and give yourself the permission and understanding to learn from the past. Use your experience to grow, then get rid of your letter as a symbol of the end of your self-blame. Recognizing what you are feeling can help you understand why you are feeling this way.

While you can take steps to recover from the impact of fraud, it's nearly impossible to track down someone who scammed you and get justice. Instead, it's almost always better to protect yourself, report the scammer, and try to recover your losses. But even better is avoiding getting scammed in the first place.

Can you get money back from bank if scammed? ›

After you notify your bank about the scam, it will normally have to refund you within five working days. However, depending on the complexity of the case, if your bank needs extra time to gather additional evidence from you, or make enquiries with the bank on the other end, it will have up to 35 working days instead.

The Electronic Fund Transfer Act provides important protections when consumers suffer unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts. For instance, so long as a person promptly notifies their bank that access to their account has been stolen, the law limits the person's losses to $50.

90% of the time you can do a Google reverse image search and found out where the photos have come from. The last one used photos from a Mexican model called Angie Varona. You can only track down the fake photos the scammer has stolen and any websites they're on.

If you or someone you care about is the victim of a fraud, scam or financial exploitation, you can report the fraud or scam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Because all scams are different, you might have to reach out to a number of other local, state, and federal agencies depending on your situation.

The short answer is: it depends. While getting a refund after losing money to scammers is possible, the outcome depends on factors like bank policy, the type of scam, the amount lost, and how quickly the scam was reported.

You think a scammer has stolen your personal information

Complete a report through ReportCyber. Make yourself a harder target: Secure your social media and other personal accounts, such as your email. Change the passwords to any other accounts you think the scammer may have accessed, or to which they now have access.

If you have fallen victim to a scam, your local police department should be able to help along with the resources mentioned above. It is generally best to file a police report on a scammer, reach out to your bank, and file a complaint with the appropriate federal agency as soon as possible after you have been scammed.