What to Do If You’ve Been Scammed

By Cameron Huddleston • July 22, 2025

You just responded to a text message that a package can’t be delivered to you because a customs fee needs to be paid. You click on a link in the message then enter your credit card information to pay the fee.

Then, you realize that the message you received was likely fake. You were probably scammed. Now what?

Americans lost more than $20 billion to scams in 2023, according to AARP and Javelin Strategy & Research. As large as that amount is, it likely doesn’t reflect the true scope of the problem because scams often go unreported.

There are several reasons for this. Victims often are scared, embarrassed or don’t know whom to call if they’ve lost money to scams. And that’s what scammers want—for victims not to take action.

If victims don’t take the proper steps, though, they have no chance of getting their money back. They also risk continued fallout from the scam, depending on what information they shared with thieves. That’s why it’s important to know what to do if you’ve been scammed.

Report the scam

Report a scam as soon as you discover it has occurred—ideally within 12 hours to 48 hours. There is no need to be embarrassed because anyone can become a victim of a scam. “Timing is critical,” says Karen Rossi, a senior financial fraud specialist with the Senior Protection Program at Council on Aging - Southern California. “The closer to when it has happened, the better.”

• Contact your financial institution’s fraud department. Financial institutions usually don’t have to reimburse victims if they authorized transactions, even if they made those transactions because they were deceived by a scammer. If a scammer has your debit or credit card information, ask your financial institution to freeze or cancel the card.
• File a report with local law enforcement. Call the police or sheriff’s department to report the crime, or visit the department’s website to file a report online. You will need a report number as a record that the crime occurred to prosecute.
• File a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov.
• Report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission at IdentityTheft.gov. Create an account on the site to get a personalized recovery plan.
• Contact Adult Protective Services in your area if you are an older or vulnerable adult and need help reporting a scam.

When reporting scams and fraud to law enforcement, provide as much detail as possible. The more information law enforcement has, the better able it will be to build a case against scammers to stop their operations.

Limit the damage

As you report scams, you also need to take steps to limit the damage bad actors can cause if they have access to your personal or account information.

• Check all of your financial accounts for unusual transactions or signs of fraud.
• Change your passwords for any accounts that were compromised. If you use the same password for all of your online accounts, create new passwords for each account.
• Report fraudulent unauthorized charges by contacting customer service at the companies where your accounts are held. You typically aren’t liable for transactions that are made without your permission.
• Check your credit report for fraudulent accounts that might have been opened in your name. Visit Annualcreditreport.com to get free copies of your report from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
• Close any new accounts scammers opened in your name by contacting the companies where the accounts were opened and letting them know you were a victim of fraud.
• Freeze your credit reports with each of the three credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—to prevent scammers who have your personal information from opening lines of credit in your name.

Stay vigilant

Take these steps to quickly detect issues that can arise following a scam and to protect yourself from becoming a victim of other scams and fraud.

• Sign up for credit and identity monitoring. Credit monitoring services keep constant tabs on your credit reports and alert you to any changes.
• Lock credit and debit cards when you’re not using them.
• Block spam calls and scam emails.
• Protect your devices. Update your computer’s antivirus software and run a scan if you gave a scammer remote access to your computer.

Recover

Scam victims often suffer emotionally as well as financially. “Take care of your mental health,” Rossi says. “If you think you’re falling into depression, ask for help.

Hiring an attorney might help if you want to pursue legal action. Your local bar association or Council on Aging might be able to provide a list of attorneys and organizations that provide legal services for free.

Cameron Huddleston

Cameron Huddleston is an editor-at-large at Carefull and the author of Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations With Your Parents About Their Finances_.