Getting money back after a scam
Recovery is decided in the first hours, not in the weeks that follow. This page is about money taken from you by fraud.
What recovery really depends on
Three things decide the outcome: how fast you report it, how the money left you, and whether the receiving side still holds the funds. A card payment can often be disputed and reversed through the card scheme; a bank transfer can be recalled only while the money is still there; money sent as crypto or as a cash transfer is the hardest to bring back. Nothing is guaranteed, and nobody honest will promise you a result in advance. Many cases begin with money stolen directly from the account, or with an account the fraudster hacked and used to pay.
The first hour
Call your bank's fraud line immediately — the number on the back of your card — and say clearly that the payment was made as part of a fraud. Ask them to freeze the card, stop any pending payment and start a dispute or a recall. Change the passwords on your banking and email accounts and turn on two-step verification wherever it is offered. Then gather the evidence before anything is deleted: messages, screenshots, the payment page, the beneficiary details and every reference number.
Why urgency matters more than anything else
Funds still sitting in the receiving account can be frozen or returned; funds that have been moved on usually cannot. Every hour between the payment and the report reduces how much is recoverable. That is also why a promise of recovery made days later, in exchange for money paid in advance, should be treated as a second attempt to defraud you rather than as help.
- Call your bank's fraud line now: dispute the payment if it was a card, and request a recall if it was a transfer.
- Freeze the card or the account if your details were shared.
- Change your passwords and turn on two-step verification.
- Collect and keep every piece of evidence before anything is deleted.
- Report officially through the national channel for your country (below) and keep the reference number.
- Do not pay anyone who offers to recover the money for an upfront fee.