To file an FTC complaint online, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov and answer the guided questions about what happened, who did it, and how much you lost.1Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov Your report drops into a database shared with more than 2,800 federal, state, local, and international law enforcement agencies through the Consumer Sentinel Network, where investigators use patterns across many complaints to build cases.2Federal Trade Commission. Consumer Sentinel Network One thing to know up front: the FTC does not resolve individual disputes or chase down refunds for a single consumer. Your complaint is intelligence for enforcement, not a customer service ticket.
What to Have Ready Before You Start
You can file with very little, but a fuller report is a more useful one. Pull these together before you open the form:
- Your own contact details — name, address, email, phone. These are optional, and you can file anonymously.
- Anything you know about the company or person: business name, website, phone, email, physical address, and the name of anyone you spoke with.
- The date it happened, a plain description of what went wrong, and the amount you paid or lost.
- Supporting documents you can upload: emails, receipts, bank or credit card statements, screenshots of websites or text messages, written correspondence.
You do not need to give a Social Security number to file a fraud report.3Federal Trade Commission. IdentityTheft.gov
Filing at ReportFraud.ftc.gov
The site does not drop you into a blank form. It asks conversational questions and branches based on your answers.1Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov You start by telling it what happened — a scam, a problem with a company, or unwanted calls — and it follows up for details about the business, the money involved, and the timeline. Upload your documents when prompted. A review screen lets you check everything before submitting.
Most people finish in 10 to 20 minutes. When you submit, you’ll see a confirmation. Save or print it for your records.
By Phone Instead
If the online portal isn’t an option, call the FTC’s Consumer Response Center at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). A specialist walks you through the same questions.4Federal Trade Commission. Contact the Federal Trade Commission
In Other Languages
The online reporting site is available in more than a dozen languages, including Spanish (at ReporteFraude.ftc.gov), Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, Arabic, Tagalog, Russian, and French. The phone line supports additional languages beyond English and Spanish, including Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, Portuguese, and Polish.5Federal Trade Commission. FTC Adds Support for Consumers in Multiple Languages for Fraud and ID Theft Reporting
Filing Anonymously
You can leave off your name and contact details entirely. Anonymous reports still enter the Consumer Sentinel database and still contribute to investigations. The trade-off is that investigators can’t circle back for more information if your experience could help a case.6Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov – FAQ
When to Use a Different Portal
Some complaints have their own home outside the general fraud portal, and using the right one gets your information to the people who act on it.
Identity theft. Use IdentityTheft.gov, or call 1-877-438-4338. The identity theft system does more than take your report: it generates a personalized recovery plan, pre-filled letters to creditors and credit bureaus, and an official FTC Identity Theft Report you can use to dispute fraudulent accounts.3Federal Trade Commission. IdentityTheft.gov7Federal Trade Commission. Identity Theft – A Recovery Plan Name and phone number are the only personal details required.
Unwanted telemarketing and robocalls. Use DoNotCall.gov once your number has been on the registry for at least 31 days.6Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov – FAQ
Scams by companies based outside the United States. Use econsumer.gov, which routes reports through more than 65 consumer protection agencies worldwide. Reports filed there still flow into the FTC database.6Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov – FAQ
Complaints the FTC doesn’t handle at all. The FTC generally has no jurisdiction over banks, insurance companies, airlines, or nonprofits, which sit with other federal regulators.8Federal Trade Commission. What the FTC Does Credit cards, mortgages, and student loans belong at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov). Private contract disputes, landlord-tenant issues, and criminal matters like theft belong with local law enforcement or your state attorney general. If your issue is outside the FTC’s scope, the reporting portal will often point you elsewhere.
What Happens After You Submit
Your report enters the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure database that isn’t open to the public. Investigators at more than 2,800 agencies can search it, set alerts for specific companies, and look for patterns.2Federal Trade Commission. Consumer Sentinel Network One complaint is an anecdote. A hundred pointing at the same business are a case.
The FTC will not contact you about your specific complaint, negotiate with the company, or recover your money. If you need individual relief, your realistic options are your state attorney general’s office, your bank’s or card issuer’s fraud department for unauthorized charges, and small claims court.
When complaint data reveals a pattern, the agency’s fastest tool is a warning letter telling a company its conduct appears to violate the FTC Act and demanding immediate changes. Companies that ignore warning letters risk a federal lawsuit.9Federal Trade Commission. About FTC Warning Letters When the FTC does sue and wins a settlement or court order, it often runs a refund program for affected consumers; over 2024, those programs returned $337.3 million.10Federal Trade Commission. Data on Refunds to Consumers
Watch Out for Fake FTC Communications
Scammers impersonate the FTC, sometimes with fake refund checks or calls demanding payment to release a supposed refund. The FTC will never ask you to pay money to receive a refund, will never demand account numbers to process a payment, and will never threaten you.11Federal Trade Commission. FTC Sends More Than $27.6 Million to Consumers Harmed by Unauthorized Billing Schemes If something feels off about a message claiming to come from the agency, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Real FTC refund notices identify a specific refund administrator and case you can verify on the FTC’s own website.