What to Do If You’re the Victim of a Financial Crime
We know it’s not easy, but act as soon as you suspect or realize that you’ve been targeted in a scam or fraud.
By Erin West
Time is of the essence. Act quickly to increase the likelihood of recovering funds and to protect yourself against further crimes. It’s time to advocate for yourself. Get support from a trusted family or friend to help you through the process if it feels overwhelming to do on your own. And honestly, it probably will.
#1 Contact your bank or financial institution.
Start with where the money came from. Contact your bank if you believe you’ve sent money based on fraud or think your account was compromised. Try to get the bank to stop the funds if they can. Banks can sometimes freeze or call back transactions. Depending on the complexity of the fraud, you may need to contact multiple companies.
Be sure to use an official contact phone number, website, or branch office. Check the back of your debit/credit card, refer to a recent statement, or use the mobile app to get contact information. Scammers are getting better at manipulating search engines to position impersonation sites in search results.
Credit Reporting Agencies: You can also contact the credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to put a security freeze on your file. A security freeze prevents anyone from opening credit, loans, or services in your name without your approval. A fraud alert notifies anyone who does a credit check on your name that you may be a victim of fraud.
#2 Report the crime to local law enforcement.
In short, contact the police. We’ll be honest, the level of expertise with digital crime varies by jurisdiction. Depending on where you live, you may not initially reach someone who has a strong understanding of these cases. They may not yet have experience with cryptocurrency cases, gold futures cases, or what you’ve experienced.
If the first person you talk to is hesitant to take your report or tells you it’s not a local crime, ask for a financial-crimes detective. They’ll ask for information to help trace your money as quickly as possible, including:
Any screenshots that show the movement of the money
A transaction hash
The deposit address with the date and time of the transaction
How Operation Shamrock Can Help: If your local agency does not have experts in digital crime, you can report your case through our site. Local officers can engage with our Crypto Coalition to receive training on handling on handling cases like yours.
Reporting your case through the Operation Shamrock portal ensures that it reaches a qualified investigator in the shortest time possible. Our triage team is made up of law enforcement officers who receive specific training and volunteer their time.
A member of the team will review the data from your report and conduct a trace to determine the next best course of action, such as whether the stolen funds can be frozen or seized. Unfortunately, not all cases can be forwarded for further law enforcement action. If you’ve opted in to contact, the team will reach out and often connect you with a local police agency that can continue the process. Team members regularly provide information and coaching to local agencies to help them build their expertise.
Operation Shamrock does not charge a fee to review your case. We also do not provide recovery services, nor do we endorse any company that claims it will recover your funds.
#3 Report to IC3.gov.
IC3.gov is the website for the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and its online reporting tool. Reporting here doesn’t mean you will get a call back from the FBI. In fact, you probably won’t. Many people are hesitant to report the crimes because they’re embarrassed or they don’t think anyone will help them. However, reporting matters for two key reasons.
First, by reporting, you’re essentially staking a claim. You're saying that if money is recovered and traced back to you, you want your share.
Second, we need to let the FBI and the federal government understand the scope of this problem.
The FBI publishes an annual analysis of internet crime reports that highlights trends and year-over-year data. We’re seeing exponential growth. Every victim report counts in tracking that growth to support requests for more federal focus, funding, and resources.
2025 Statistics: Released in April 2026, the 2025 FBI Internet Crime Report shows that losses reached nearly $21 billion, a 26% increase over 2024. Investment-related fraud comprised the largest segment of losses, followed by business email compromise, and tech support scams.
Cryptocurrency is a big part of the internet crime profile. Crypto investment complaints increased 48% over 2024; 72% of investment fraud reports identified cryptocurrency as the transaction type.
Get Support Beyond Reporting
Access support resources from trusted organizations, including trauma-informed and low-cost or no-cost counseling for victims, families, and allies. Visit our Services for Scam Survivors page to find some of the resources available to you.
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