Emergency plan

Been scammed? Do these things now.

First: it isn't your fault. Scams are run by professionals and catch smart, careful people every day. Acting quickly gives you the best chance of stopping the damage.

In the first hour

1. Call your bank, card provider or payment app using the number on your card or in the official app. Say you've been scammed and ask them to stop or recall the payment and block your card if needed. With crypto, contact the exchange you sent it from.
2. Stop all contact with the scammer. Don't send more money, even if they promise a refund or threaten you.
3. Secure your accounts. If you shared a password or code, change the password on the real site, turn on two-step verification, and sign out other devices.
4. If someone accessed your computer, disconnect it from the internet and uninstall any app they asked you to install.
5. Save evidence: screenshots of messages, phone numbers, web addresses, payment references and dates.

Today

1. Report it to the police or national fraud service (choose your country on this page). You'll often get a reference number that banks ask for.
2. Report the account or profile on the platform where it happened: WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, the marketplace or the dating app.
3. If you shared ID documents, contact the issuing authority and consider credit monitoring or identity protection.
4. Tell family and friends, especially if your account was taken over and could be used to message them.

In the coming weeks

• Watch your statements and credit report for anything unusual.
• Beware of recovery scams: anyone who contacts you offering to get your money back for a fee. How they work.
• Talk to someone. Losing money to a scam can be distressing. Many countries have free victim support services, which your police report can often connect you to.

Warn others: report the scam here too

Once the urgent steps are done: stop it happening again

Do everything above first. These are for the weeks after, when you are ready.

Use a password manager

It only fills in your password on the real website, so a look-alike login page gets nothing. It also makes a different password for every account, so one leak doesn't open the rest.

Free: Bitwarden has a free plan, and even the password manager built into your phone or browser beats reusing one password everywhere.

• NordPass Partner link Password manager with a free plan and a family plan for up to six people.

Watch for anyone using your identity

If you shared ID documents, card details or a Social Security number, monitoring can alert you when someone opens credit or accounts in your name.

Free: In the US, a credit freeze at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion is free and blocks most new-credit fraud. Elsewhere, ask your bank and your credit reference agency about fraud alerts.

Keep security software with web protection on your devices

It blocks many known scam and malware websites and warns about dangerous apps. That matters most if you installed an app or "support" tool someone asked you to.

Free: Keep your phone and browser updated, and leave Google Play Protect or Microsoft Defender switched on. Both are free.

• Bitdefender Partner link Security suite for phone and computer with web and scam protection.

Take your details off data broker sites

Scammers buy phone numbers, home addresses and family details from people-search and data broker sites. The less of that is public, the fewer and less convincing the scam messages you get.

Free: You can ask each site to delete your details yourself. In the EU and the UK, data protection law gives you that right.

Compare the tools that help, and what each costs

Links marked Partner link may earn us a commission, at no cost to you. It never changes our advice, and the free option always comes first. Affiliate disclosure.