What to do if you think you've been scammed

The first feeling most people describe is embarrassment, and it's the part that does the most damage, because it delays the calls that actually matter. Scams are built by people who do this full time against people who are doing something else with their day. Falling for one is not a character flaw.

What matters now is sequence. Here's the order.

The first hour

Stop all contact. Don't reply, don't explain, don't tell them you know. If you're on a call, hang up. Anything you say next gets used to keep you engaged or to set up a second approach later, often as someone offering to recover your money.

Cancel the payment if it hasn't been claimed. Open the app or service you sent from and look at the payment's status. If it's still waiting, cancel it and the money never leaves. See How to cancel a payment. If you sent a request instead, cancel that too.

Call your bank or card issuer. Use the number on the back of your card, not one from a message. Tell them what happened and when. If you shared card details, ask them to freeze or reissue the card.

Write down what happened while it's fresh. Names, numbers, times, amounts, screenshots of the messages. You'll be asked for this more than once and memory fades fast.

The same day

Change anything you exposed. If you shared a password, change it there and anywhere else you reused it. If you gave someone remote access to your device, disconnect it from the internet and have it looked at before you use it for banking.

Block the person. In Moov, blocking stops them sending you money or requesting money from you, and they aren't told. See How to block or unblock someone.

Report it to us. Tell us what happened so we can act on the account across the network. See How to report a scam or fraud.

Tell one person. Not for the paperwork, for the second opinion. Scams often come in waves, and the follow-up approach lands while you're still rattled.

Within 48 hours

File with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. It feeds the data law enforcement uses to find patterns across thousands of reports.

File a police report if a significant amount is involved. Banks and card issuers sometimes ask for one.

Check your other accounts. If your details were exposed anywhere, look at recent activity on email, your other cards, and any account that shares a password with the one that was compromised.

Watch for the recovery scam. Within days of losing money, many people are contacted by someone offering to get it back for a fee. That is the same crew or one that bought your details. No legitimate recovery service asks for money up front.

Can you get your money back?

Honest answer: sometimes, and it depends on which kind of loss it was.

• An unclaimed payment can be cancelled by you, and nothing is lost.

• A payment that was already claimed, or a request you paid, can't be reversed.

• A charge you never authorized, meaning someone used your card or your account without you, generally carries protections through your bank. Report it to them promptly, because those protections often depend on how quickly you speak up.

• A payment you were persuaded to make yourself is the hardest category. You approved it, which limits what a dispute can do. Your bank is still the right call, since policies vary and some offer help beyond what's required.

Nobody at Moov can promise recovery, and anyone who does promise it is running the next scam.

How to report a scam

Give us as much of this as you have:

• What happened, in order, with dates and times.

• The phone number, name, or link the scammer used.

• The amount and the payment or request involved.

• Screenshots of the messages.

Start at How to report a scam or fraud.

Frequently asked questions