This page lists the organizations that actually do something when you contact them, what each one is for, and what to expect. Everything here is free. Nothing on this page charges a fee to help you.
If money left your account in the last few days, skip ahead to the two steps below and come back to the rest later.
If it happened in the last 72 hours
Speed matters more than anything else on this page. Recall mechanisms are tied to deadlines, and every hour reduces what is possible.
- Call your bank or card issuer now. Use the word “fraud” explicitly and ask them to attempt a recall or chargeback. Do this before you file anything, because your bank is the only party that can move in hours rather than weeks.
- File at ic3.gov. Large, recent wire transfers reported quickly can sometimes be frozen by the FBI’s Recovery Asset Team. That window is measured in days, not weeks.
Then keep everything: profile screenshots, complete chat logs, transaction records, wallet addresses, the platform name. Do this before you block anyone, because blocking often removes your access to the conversation.
Where to report
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center — ic3.gov
The primary federal channel for online fraud. Your complaint goes into a national database that the FBI uses to identify patterns and build cases against entire networks, which is how these operations actually get shut down. Filing here is not the same as filing a police report, so do both.
Federal Trade Commission — reportfraud.ftc.gov
The FTC does not resolve individual cases, but its Consumer Sentinel database is shared with thousands of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. It is also the source of the national statistics on this crime, which means your report contributes to the pressure for enforcement even if it never produces a case of your own.
Your state attorney general
Every state has a consumer protection division, and some are considerably more active on fraud than federal agencies are. Search for your state’s name plus “attorney general consumer complaint” to find the right form.
Your local police department
Worth doing even when the response is discouraging. A local report number is often required by banks, insurers, and credit bureaus before they will act on your behalf.
How to check someone or something before you send money
All of these are free, take minutes, and work best before any money moves.
FINRA BrokerCheck
Look up any individual or firm claiming to offer investment services. If someone you met online is advising you on trades and does not appear here, that alone answers the question. Available at brokercheck.finra.org.
SEC — investor.gov
Check registration status and read the SEC’s investor alerts, which name specific fraudulent platforms and schemes. The EDGAR database lets you verify whether a company files with the SEC at all.
CFTC — cftc.gov
The regulator for commodities, futures and much of the crypto trading space. Its advisories on relationship-based investment fraud describe exactly how the fake-platform pattern works, in the regulator’s own words.
Reverse image search
Run profile photos through Google Lens and TinEye. With stolen images, this often returns the original source in seconds. With AI-generated images it returns nothing, so treat a blank result as inconclusive rather than as confirmation.
If intimate images are involved
These services work by creating a digital fingerprint of the image on your own device. The image itself never leaves your phone or computer, and you do not have to identify yourself.
StopNCII.org — if you were 18 or older
Free, anonymous, and operated by a UK charity. Participating platforms include Meta, TikTok, Reddit, Snap, X, Bumble, OnlyFans, and Pornhub. Once the fingerprint is filed, those platforms can block matching uploads before they appear.
Take It Down — if you were under 18 in the image
Run by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at takeitdown.ncmec.org. Same mechanism, aimed at content created when the person was a minor. It applies even if you are an adult now.
TakeItDown.ftc.gov — if a platform refuses
Under federal law, covered platforms must remove reported non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours of a valid request. Since May 2026, the FTC has enforced this directly, and this site is where you report a platform that fails to comply.
One rule with no exceptions: do not pay. Payment demonstrates that you pay, which produces the next demand. Report it at ic3.gov and, where a minor is involved, to the NCMEC CyberTipline.
If your personal information was exposed
IdentityTheft.gov
The FTC’s recovery service. Answer a short set of questions, and it generates a personalized action plan, prefilled letters, and a formal identity theft report.
Freeze your credit
A security freeze blocks new accounts from being opened in your name. It is free, does not affect your credit score, and can be lifted temporarily whenever you need it. You have to do it separately at all three bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Support that costs nothing
The financial loss is usually not the hardest part. What follows tends to land like a breakup, on top of the money and the shame, and it is the reason most people tell nobody. These services exist specifically for that.
AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline — 877-908-3360
Free, open to anyone, no membership required. Staffed by trained fraud specialists Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern. They handle several hundred calls a day. They will not investigate your case or recover funds, and they say so plainly, but they will tell you what to do next, and they will not make you feel stupid for calling.
FightCybercrime Romance Scam Recovery Group
A free, counselor-led peer support program specifically for romance and crypto investment fraud, funded by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation. Ten weekly one-hour sessions, held remotely, in groups of up to 25 people who have been through the same thing. Registration is at fightcybercrime.org.
Give an Hour
Free virtual peer groups led by mental health professionals, for victims and for family members, at giveanhour.org/financialfraud. The family track is worth knowing about if someone you care about is the one who was targeted.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988 from anywhere in the United States. Financial devastation combined with shame and isolation is a serious combination, and this crime produces all three at once. If things have reached that point, this line is free, confidential, and staffed around the clock.
What to avoid
Within weeks of a loss, most victims are contacted again — by a law firm, an investigator, a supposed agency, a recovery service, or another victim with a tip. They claim to have traced your funds and can retrieve them for a fee paid upfront.
These are generally the same networks. Victim lists circulate and are sold internally, because someone who has already paid is the most promising target available. The FBI tracks recovery fraud as its own category.
Two rules cover almost every case. No government agency charges an advance fee to recover your money. No legitimate organization contacts fraud victims out of the blue.
The same applies to crypto tracing services that promise results for a retainer. Blockchain analysis can show where funds went; it cannot compel anyone to return them. Pay attention to what is actually being promised.