How to Report a Scam in the US: FTC, IC3 and Your Bank

If you were scammed or someone tried to scam you, there are three places to report it in the United States: the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, and your bank or card issuer if any money moved. If your identity was used, add identitytheft.gov for a personal recovery plan. You do not need a lawyer, you do not need to pay anyone, and you can file these reports yourself in about 20 minutes.

This guide walks you through each step in plain English, in the order that actually helps. We are Getshure, a small American publisher focused on scams, AI risks and family online safety, and we also offer protection plans with the Getshure app. We will point out where our tools help, but every official report below is free.

Before you report: do these three things first

If money just left your account or you just shared a password, the first hour matters more than the paperwork. Do these in order:

1. Stop the bleeding. Hang up, close the chat, stop replying. Do not send one more dollar "to unlock" the first.
2. Call your bank or card issuer. Use the number on the back of your card, not a number the scammer gave you. Ask them to stop the payment, reverse the charge, or freeze the account.
3. Change the password on any account the scammer touched, and turn on two-factor authentication. If you reused that password anywhere else, change it there too.

Once the immediate risk is handled, you are ready to file reports. If you want a longer playbook for the first hour, see our guide on what to do in the first 10 minutes after a scam.

Step 1: Report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov

The Federal Trade Commission is the main US agency that collects consumer scam reports. Your report goes into a database that law enforcement across the country uses to spot patterns and build cases. You will not usually get a personal investigator, but your report does matter — it is how the FTC and state attorneys general know what scams are hitting people this month.

What you will need

• What happened, in your own words. A short timeline is fine.
• The scammer's phone number, email address, website, or social media handle, if you have it.
• Any company name they used (even if it was fake).
• How they contacted you: call, text, email, social media, in person.
• How you paid, if you paid: credit card, debit card, bank transfer, gift card, wire, crypto, cash.
• The amount, if money changed hands.

How to file

1. Open reportfraud.ftc.gov in your browser. Type the address in yourself — do not click a link from a text or email claiming to be the FTC.
2. Click "Report Now" and choose the category that fits best (imposter, online shopping, phone, job scam, etc.). If nothing fits, pick the closest one.
3. Answer the questions. You do not need to be perfect — write what you remember.
4. Give your name and email at the end so the FTC can follow up if they need to. You can skip some personal fields if you prefer.
5. Save or print the confirmation page.

If the scam was a robocall or a Do Not Call violation, you can also file at donotcall.gov. If it involved your phone carrier (spoofed numbers, SIM swaps), add a report at fcc.gov.

Step 2: Report to the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is run by the FBI. File there any time the scam involved the internet — email, a website, social media, online dating, online investment, business email compromise, ransomware, crypto, or a fake online store. If real money was lost, IC3 is especially important: the FBI's Recovery Asset Team can sometimes claw back wire transfers, but only if the report comes in quickly.

What you will need

• Your contact information.
• The scammer's email, website, wallet address, usernames, phone numbers — everything you have.
• The financial details: bank name, account number if you know it, wire reference, crypto transaction ID, dollar amounts and dates.
• A clear description of what happened and how you were contacted.

How to file

1. Go to ic3.gov and click "File a Complaint."
2. Read the short disclaimer and continue.
3. Fill in your information, the subject's (scammer's) information, and the financial transaction details.
4. In the description, write a plain timeline: what they said, what you did, what they did next.
5. Submit and save the complaint number. Keep it with your other records.

If a wire transfer was sent in the last 72 hours, also call your bank's wire department immediately and tell them you want a SWIFT recall. The faster the request, the better the chance of recovery.

Step 3: Report to your bank, card issuer, or payment app

Federal reports help the big picture. Your bank is the one that can actually move your money back. The right contact depends on how you paid:

How you paid	Who to call
Credit card	Card issuer's fraud line (back of card). Ask to dispute the charge.
Debit card	Your bank's fraud line. Ask them to reverse and reissue the card.
Bank transfer or ACH	Your bank's fraud department. Ask about ACH reversal.
Wire transfer	Your bank's wire department, same day if possible. Ask for a recall.
Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal	Report inside the app, then also call the bank behind it.
Gift card	Call the card brand (number on the back of the gift card). Keep the card and the receipt.
Crypto	Report to the exchange you used and to IC3. Recovery is rare but not impossible.
Cash or check mailed	Call USPIS at 1-877-876-2455 if it went through the mail.

Ask for the dispute in writing (email is fine). Write down the representative's name and the case number. Under federal law (Regulation E for debit, Regulation Z for credit), you have real protections — but you have to report in time, so do not wait.

Step 4: If your identity was used, file at identitytheft.gov

If the scammer got your Social Security number, opened an account in your name, filed a tax return as you, or used your info to apply for credit, add one more report: identitytheft.gov. This is the FTC's identity theft site, and it is the best single tool out there. It will:

• Build you a personal recovery plan based on exactly what happened.
• Generate an official FTC Identity Theft Report you can send to creditors.
• Give you pre-written letters to banks, credit bureaus and collectors.

Then place a free credit freeze at all three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. A freeze stops new accounts from being opened in your name. For a walkthrough, see our credit freeze guide, and for the whole recovery process, our identity theft recovery step-by-step.

Scam-specific places to also report

• IRS / tax scams: irs.gov (search "report phishing").
• Social Security impersonation: oig.ssa.gov.
• Medicare fraud: medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE.
• Bank or lender issues: consumerfinance.gov (CFPB complaint).
• Online exploitation of a child: report.cybertip.org.
• Intimate images of a minor shared or threatened online: takeitdown.ncmec.org.
• Your state attorney general also takes consumer complaints. Type your state's name plus "attorney general consumer complaint" into a search engine.

What to keep in your records

Before you delete anything, save it. Open a folder on your computer or a note on your phone called "Scam report" and put in:

• Screenshots of the texts, emails, chats or web pages.
• The scammer's phone number, email, usernames and website.
• Bank and card statements showing the charges or transfers.
• Receipts for any gift cards or crypto.
• Your FTC, IC3 and bank case numbers.
• Names and dates of anyone you spoke to.

You may need this later for a dispute, an insurance claim, or a police report. If the loss was large, also file a report with your local police — some banks and insurers require it.

Read the book: "Don't Get Screwed by AI"

Reporting a scam is the last step. The better goal is to never get hit in the first place — and modern scams use AI voice cloning, deepfake video, polished phishing emails and fake customer-service sites that look exactly like the real thing. Our hardcover "Don't Get Screwed by AI" ($29) is a plain-English guide for ordinary American adults. It covers the scams hitting phones and inboxes right now, the signals that something is off, and the exact words to say to shut a scammer down.

It is a hardcover you can keep by the phone or hand to a parent. Ships free in the continental US on orders of $40+, usually arrives in 3–5 business days, and is backed by our 30-day money-back guarantee. We sometimes offer it as a free print where you just cover shipping — check the product page for today's price.

How the Getshure app helps before and after

Our protection plans include the Getshure app on iPhone and Android. It is built to catch more of the junk that leads to scam reports in the first place, and to help you clean up faster if something slips through:

• Scam Shield identifies likely scam and spam callers, helps block robocalls, and lets you look up an unknown number before you call back.
• Breach check tells you if your email or passwords have appeared in known data breaches, so you know which accounts to lock down first.
• Data broker removal sends opt-out requests to people-search sites that scammers use to profile you.
• Encrypted private vault for sensitive photos and documents, locked with Face ID or a passcode.
• Photo Guard reverse-image search to see where your photos appear online.
• Tracker blocking and safer browsing on public Wi-Fi.
• Phone security score with clear steps to improve it.

Our Identity Theft Restoration add-on is human help by email — walking you through credit freezes, bank disputes, the IRS identity theft form, and police and FTC reports. It is not insurance and it does not reimburse lost money, but it takes the paperwork off your shoulders. No app blocks every scam, but the right tools catch more and help you recover faster.

New plans are $9.99, $29.99 or $79.99 today depending on the plan you pick, then $29.99 every 30 days until you cancel. You get a reminder email about 3 days before each renewal. To get the app on Android, use the Getshure app on Google Play. On iPhone, use the download link in your Getshure order confirmation email. Full walkthrough: how to activate the Getshure app.

Why you can trust Getshure

Getshure is operated by MetaWise Enterprises, LLC, a Delaware company (file number 10336625) based at 11772 W Sample Rd, Ste 103, Ofc 240, Coral Springs, FL 33065. You can reach a real person at (754) 812-1679, Monday–Friday, 9 AM–6 PM Eastern, or contact@getshure.com. We publish our cancel and refund terms in plain English:

• Cancel in one step at getshure.com/cancel — enter your order email and click the link we send.
• 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan charge, renewal and add-on, no reason needed. See our refund policy.
• Charges on your statement show as GETSHURE.COM. If you see one you do not recognize, email us first — we will explain it and refund if it was not authorized.

Your next step

File the reports above today while the details are fresh. Then take ten minutes to lower the odds of the next attempt landing: order "Don't Get Screwed by AI", pick a Getshure protection plan, or call us at (754) 812-1679 and we will help you choose. Scammers move fast. You can move faster.