What to do if you have already sent money to scammers

A step-by-step plan for the first hours after a scam: bank, police, evidence. The faster you act, the better your chance of getting the money back.

If you realise that you have been scammed, do not blame yourself and do not lose time. In the first hours there is a chance to stop the payment.

Step 1. Call your bank at once

Call the number on the back of your card or in the official app. Report the fraudulent payment and ask the bank to:
- block your card, if the scammers know its details;
- dispute or stop the payment, if it has not gone through yet;
- contact the recipient's bank so that the money is frozen.

Step 2. Save the evidence

Take screenshots before the scammers delete the messages:
- the chats and profiles you were in contact with;
- phone numbers, usernames, website addresses;
- receipts and bank statements for the payment;
- the ads through which you found them.

Step 3. Report it to the police

Contact the police and the relevant authorities in your country. Attach all the evidence you saved. The report number will be useful for your bank.

Step 4. Report them to the platform

If the scammers found you through a classifieds website, a social network or a messenger app, report their profile. This helps get their account blocked faster.

Step 5. Beware of "helpers"

After a scam, people often get messages from someone who promises to get the money back for an upfront fee: "lawyers", "hackers", "Interpol officers". This is the second wave of the same scam. Only your bank and the police return money, and they do it for free.

Step 6. Warn others

Add a report to our registry: list the scammers' phone numbers, usernames and websites, and briefly describe what happened. A moderator will check the report and publish it, and the next person will find the warning through search.