⏱️ Scammed or unsure? 60-second plan
1 · Protect money
Call your bank's fraud line now — the number on the back of your card. Freeze the card and ask them to reverse any payments.
2 · Keep evidence
Screenshot texts, emails, caller numbers and payment screens. Change passwords and turn on 2-step verification.
3 · Report it
Report through your country's official channel — see the report page.
📌 More help: Report → · Help & support
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Need help? You are not alone.
Hacked account, ransomware on your device, money stolen, or you just feel shaken after a scam — here is exactly what to do, step by step. Every guide below is free, from the CyberAware UK support series.
🛑 I've been HACKED
Account taken over, emails sent in your name, or someone inside your phone? Act in this order: change your password from a DIFFERENT device, log out everywhere, turn on two-factor authentication, check bank activity, scan for unknown apps, then report.
📖 What hacking really means
How accounts get broken into and the 5 things to do first.
🔒 Ransomware on my device
Screen locked with a message demanding payment? DO NOT PAY — paying funds criminals and does not guarantee your files return. Disconnect from the network, do not restart repeatedly, and follow the UK recovery steps.
📖 Ransomware & malware recovery
Step-by-step: what to do and what never to do.
💰 Money stolen in a scam
If you transferred money to a fraudster, speed matters. Contact your bank immediately and ask for a recall, report to the police, and keep every message. In the UK, banks must reimburse most APP fraud victims.
📖 Money-back recovery guide
Chargebacks, Section 75 and the Financial Ombudsman.
🔗 I clicked a scam link
Stay calm — clicking alone is not a disaster. Do not enter passwords or OTP codes on the page. Close it, change passwords for any account you logged into, and check for unexpected charges.
📖 Clicked a scam link — now what?
The calm, ordered checklist for after you click.
🆔 My identity was used
Someone opened accounts or loans in your name? Report it to the credit bureau in your country, place a fraud alert, and gather evidence of every unauthorised account.
📖 Identity fraud guide
What identity fraud is and how to reclaim your name.
💚 I feel shaken after the scam
Being scammed is not your fault and the emotional impact is real — shame, anxiety and stress are common reactions. Talk to someone you trust, and if you are struggling, speak to a professional. You matter more than the money.
📖 Emotional support after a scam
Looking after your mental health, with free UK helplines.
📂 More support paths
💔 Romance scam heartbreak
You met someone online who now needs money for a 'medical emergency', 'travel' or an 'investment'? This is the world's most expensive scam. Stop sending money, save the chats as evidence, and talk to someone you trust.
📖 Romance & marriage scams
How love fraud works and how to exit safely.
💸 Crypto scam recovery
Sent crypto to a fake trading platform or 'investment manager'? Crypto is nearly untraceable, but act now: stop all contact, freeze what you can, report to your country's financial authority and police, and beware 'recovery agents' — they are often a second scam.
📖 Crypto scam recovery guide
What actually works in 2026 — and the traps to avoid.
📋 Scam recovery checklist
Work through it in order: stop contact, protect accounts, notify your bank, gather evidence, report, watch for repeat scams. Print it, keep it beside you, tick each step.
📖 Recovery checklist
The one-page ordered plan for after a scam.
👣 I am being cyber-stalked
Repeated messages, tracking, fake accounts or threats online are stalking — and it is serious. Do not reply. Save everything (screenshots, times, links), block, report to the platform and police, and tell someone you trust where you are.
📖 Cyber-stalking support
What it is, how to stop it and secure your accounts.
🧒 Supporting a child after harm online
If a child has seen something upsetting, been groomed, or had images shared, the most important thing is your calm. Believe them, do not blame them, preserve evidence without screenshotting harmful images further, and report to the police and the platform.
📖 Supporting a child after a report
How to help a child through the aftermath, safely.
🏠 Protecting your whole family
Scams and harmful content do not only hit adults — parents, teens and younger children each face different risks. Set up parental controls, talk openly about online dangers, and keep one family rule: when in doubt, ask first.
📖 Family online safety hub
Guides for parents, teens and younger children.
🧒 Children & teens
🚸 Keep children safe online
Parental controls are only the start. Lock down the risky apps, keep talking with your child about what they see, and know the warning signs that something is wrong — the practical UK guide, age by age.
📖 Keep children safe online
Parental controls, risky apps, warning signs.
🚸 How online grooming works
Grooming follows patterns — friendship, secrets, testing boundaries — and it happens inside games and apps, not just chat rooms. Learn the stages, spot the warning signs, and know exactly what to do if you are worried.
📖 How online grooming works
The grooming stages and warning signs for parents.
🎮 Scams targeting young people
Fake prizes, 'free' game currency, account takeover and sextortion target under-18s every day. The five warning signs to watch, what your child can do, and what you as a parent or carer can do.
📖 Scams & account security for young people
Five warning signs, plus what child and parent can do.
🧑 Teen safe zone
Written for teens themselves: unwanted pictures, cyberbullying, and quick privacy settings. Clear, non-judgemental, practical steps to lock down accounts and handle the hard situations.
📖 Teen safe zone
Unwanted pictures, cyberbullying, privacy settings.
🏫 Schools & parents
🏫 Online safety for schools
Built for safeguarding leads, teachers and parents of pupils — the statutory duty to address online safety, including grooming, sextortion and peer-on-peer abuse, plus classroom-ready ideas you can share freely.
📖 Schools online safety hub
For DSLs, teachers and parents of pupils.
💬 Cyberbullying & harmful content
Cyberbullying, self-harm content and harmful material — the five warning signs to watch, what a child can do, what a parent or carer can do, and the report routes that actually work.
📖 Cyberbullying help guide
Warning signs, next steps and report routes.
🎒 Age-based advice (5–17)
What to teach at every stage: ages 5–7 first steps, 8–12 when independence begins and predators target hardest, 13–15 the risky years, 16–17 young adults — one golden rule for every age.
📖 Age-based advice guide
The right conversation for each age group.
🧸 Child safety hub & exploitation prevention
The essentials first: five family habits that beat any app setting, then the deeper hub on exploitation prevention. If you have evidence of abuse, report directly to authorities — never share it online.
📖 Child safety hub
Five habits first, then exploitation prevention.
📥 Free parents' guide (PDF)
Keep children safe online — parental controls, risky apps, grooming warning signs, and what to do if something happens. Printable, share with every parent you know.
🧓 Silver surfers
👴 Staying safe online — silver surfers
Phone scams, doorstep callers, lottery letters and the grandparent scam — the tricks aimed most at older adults. Golden rules, red flags and exactly what to do when someone tries them on you or your parents.
📖 Silver Surfers guide
Phone, doorstep, postal and grandparent scams.
🖥️ Fake tech support calls
'Your Windows has a virus — pay us to fix it.' Fake tech support is one of the most common ways older people lose money. Real companies never cold-call you: hang up, and never hand over remote access.
📖 Tech support scam guide
The script, the red flags and how to shut it down.
🚨 Report it in your country
Every Gulf state has an official reporting channel — the fastest route to action. See the country-by-country list with verified contact details.
🆘 Emergency help right now
If someone is in immediate danger, or you are being threatened or blackmailed, contact your local emergency number now. In the UK: 999. In the Gulf: 999 in most states, 911 in Saudi Arabia, 9999 in Oman, 112 in Kuwait. Do not wait.
Full support series lives on the UK site: cyberawareuk.co.uk/emotional-support and /get-help-now