What to Do After an Investment Scam
What should you do after an investment scam?
Stop further payments and contact the bank, card issuer, payment app, wire company, exchange, or other provider used for the transfer immediately; ask whether it can be reversed. Save messages, account details, transaction records, and website addresses. Secure compromised accounts, report through the financial-regulator and law-enforcement routes for your jurisdiction, and reject anyone demanding an upfront fee to recover the loss. Recovery is never guaranteed.
Fraud Signal Ledger provides general fraud-response education. Specific payment rights, reports, deadlines, and legal options require the relevant provider, regulator, or qualified professional.
Stop the next loss and preserve the record
Do not send another fee, deposit, tax, or verification payment. End remote access to devices and stop sharing codes, identity documents, or account information. Preserve rather than edit the evidence:
- messages, emails, phone numbers, usernames, and profile addresses;
- website addresses and screenshots showing what was claimed;
- receipts, bank records, transaction identifiers, and destination details;
- account statements and withdrawal requests;
- dates, amounts, and the sequence of contacts.
Do not revisit an unsafe link to improve the record. Give the preserved material to the responsible provider or authority through its official channel.
Contact the payment provider immediately
The US Federal Trade Commission's response guide directs people to the company used to send the money and says to ask whether the transaction can be reversed. The exact route depends on how payment was made.
Contact a card issuer using the number on the card or the authenticated account. Contact a bank or credit union for bank transfers and debit payments. Contact the payment app or wire-transfer company through its official site or app. For a digital-asset transfer, contact the exchange or ATM operator used for the transaction. State that the payment involved fraud and ask what recall, dispute, freeze, or refund process is available.
Speed can matter, but no provider can promise reversal. Follow its evidence requests and record the case number.
Secure accounts and identity information
Change the password on a compromised account to a new, unique password. Change it anywhere else it was reused, and enable two-factor authentication where available. If access to a device was given, use the provider's official recovery steps and qualified technical help.
If identity information was exposed in the United States, the FTC directs people to IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan. Other countries have their own identity-theft and cybercrime routes.
Report through the correct jurisdiction
Reports create a record and can support an investigation; they do not guarantee repayment.
| Location and issue | Official starting route |
|---|---|
| United States, investment or financial-professional complaint | The Investor.gov complaint page |
| United States, broader consumer fraud | ReportFraud.ftc.gov |
| United States, internet-enabled crime | The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center |
| United Kingdom | Follow the current Financial Conduct Authority reporting page, including its separate route for Scotland |
| Another jurisdiction | Contact the home financial regulator and local police through their official sites |
The FCA currently directs people outside the United Kingdom to their local police and home-state regulator. Regulations, agency roles, limitation periods, and evidence rules vary. Ask qualified counsel in the relevant jurisdiction about a specific right or deadline.
Expect a second approach
The FTC warns that refund and recovery scammers contact people who have already lost money. They may claim to represent a government agency, consumer organization, or law firm, promise a refund, or offer to file paperwork. The next step is a request for an upfront fee or personal and financial information.
Do not pay upfront or provide account or identity information to an unexpected recovery contact. Verify an authority through its known official site. The FBI's IC3 also says it does not work with non-law-enforcement entities to recover lost funds and will not contact people directly for information or money.
No private claim that funds have been “found” proves recovery. A displayed recovery balance can be another stage of the fraud.
Keep the case record together
Store provider case numbers, submitted reports, copies of evidence, and dates of follow-up. Do not publish sensitive evidence or send it to strangers offering help. For the warning pattern that often precedes the loss, see our high-yield investment scheme red flags and the Scam Recognition section.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, What To Do if You Were Scammed — accessed September 3, 2026; supports payment-provider contact by method, password changes, two-factor authentication, and the US identity-theft route.
- Federal Trade Commission, Refund and Recovery Scams — accessed September 3, 2026; supports the upfront-fee, impersonation, personal-information, and false-recovery warnings.
- Investor.gov, Submit Questions and Complaints — accessed September 3, 2026; supports the US investment, account, and financial-professional complaint route.
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center — accessed September 3, 2026; supports the US internet-crime reporting route and IC3 impersonation and recovery warnings.
- Financial Conduct Authority, Report a Scam — accessed September 3, 2026; supports the UK, Scotland, and outside-UK reporting distinctions and recovery-room warning.
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