Where to Report Credit Card Fraud: Issuer, Bureaus, and FTC

To report credit card fraud, start with your card issuer using the fraud number on the back of the card or the dispute button in its app, then place a fraud alert or credit freeze with one of the three major credit bureaus, and file an identity theft report at IdentityTheft.gov. A police report or an FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center filing comes next only in specific situations. Federal law caps your out-of-pocket loss on a fraudulent credit card charge at $50, and most cardholders end up owing nothing.¹

Call Your Card Issuer First

Your card issuer is always the first contact. Most banks have a fraud or dispute button in their app that flags a specific charge in seconds; if you can’t get online, the fraud number is printed on the back of your card. Reporting quickly doesn’t change your liability on a credit card (the $50 cap applies regardless of timing), but every hour the card stays active is another hour a thief can use it.²

If you report the card lost or stolen before anyone uses it, you owe zero. If a thief used only your card number rather than the physical card, which is the pattern behind most online fraud, you also owe zero.² The burden is on the issuer, not you: if the bank wants to hold you liable for any amount, it has to prove the charge was authorized or that every statutory condition for liability was met.¹

After you call, the issuer cancels the compromised card number and sends a replacement. It must investigate within two full billing cycles, and no longer than 90 days, and most issuers apply a provisional credit while the investigation runs.³ The law also blocks the issuer from reporting you as delinquent or restricting your account while the dispute is open.⁴

Put Your Dispute in Writing

The Fair Credit Billing Act gives you 60 days from the date your statement was sent to dispute a billing error in writing.³ A phone call or in-app dispute often resolves things, but the full FCBA protections attach to a written notice sent to the billing inquiry address on your statement, not the payment address. Certified mail with return receipt creates a paper trail proving the bank received your dispute within the 60-day window.

Place a Fraud Alert or Credit Freeze With the Credit Bureaus

Once the card itself is locked down, protect your broader credit file. You have two tools, and you can use both.

Fraud Alerts

A fraud alert tells lenders to verify your identity before opening new credit in your name. You only need to contact one of the three major bureaus — Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion — and that bureau must notify the other two. An initial fraud alert lasts one year and is available to anyone who suspects fraud.⁵ If you’ve filed an identity theft report with the FTC or a police report, you qualify for an extended fraud alert that lasts seven years and removes you from pre-approved credit offer marketing lists for five.⁶

Credit Freezes

A credit freeze is stronger. It blocks anyone, including you, from opening new credit until you lift it, and no lender can pull your credit report while the freeze is active.⁶ Freezes are free to place and lift at all three bureaus, they don’t affect your credit score, and they last until you remove them.⁷ The trade-off is convenience: if you apply for a mortgage, rent an apartment, or open a new card, you’ll need to lift the freeze first. For most fraud victims who aren’t shopping for credit, a freeze is the safer choice because it doesn’t depend on a lender remembering to call you.

File an Identity Theft Report at IdentityTheft.gov

The FTC’s portal at IdentityTheft.gov is where you create an official identity theft report, a document that carries the weight of a sworn affidavit and unlocks specific rights with creditors and the credit bureaus.⁸ Enter the details of the fraud and the system generates a PDF with a unique reference number. Download it immediately.

The site also builds a personalized recovery plan from what you entered. If you create an account, the plan walks you through each step, tracks progress, and pre-fills dispute letters to send to creditors and bureaus.⁹ The pre-filled letters include the right statutory language and your report number, which is what makes creditors treat them as more than customer-service correspondence. If you skip the account, print the plan and save it — you won’t be able to get back into it later.

When to File a Police Report

A police report isn’t always necessary for a single fraudulent charge your bank clears up quickly. File one when:

A creditor requires it. Some banks and merchants won’t close a fraudulent account or reverse high-value charges without a police report on file.
You know who did it. If you can identify the person who used your card, such as a roommate, family member, or someone with physical access, law enforcement can actually investigate.
The fraud goes beyond one card. If someone opened accounts in your name, filed false tax returns, or committed broader identity theft, a police report creates a legal record that supports your FTC identity theft report.

Bring your printed FTC identity theft report, transaction records showing the fraudulent charges, and a government-issued ID. Ask the officer for a formal report and a copy with a case number; some departments charge a small fee for the printed copy. Local police rarely investigate a card fraud case directly, so the report’s practical value is as documentation you can hand to banks and creditors.

When to Report to the FBI’s IC3

If the fraud happened online, through a phishing email, a compromised website, or an account takeover, you can also file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.¹⁰ The IC3 accepts complaints involving credit card fraud and account takeovers. The form asks for your information, the transaction details, and a description of what happened.

Filing with the IC3 will not get your money back directly, because the FBI does not resolve individual consumer disputes. IC3 data feeds federal investigations of fraud rings, so if your case is part of a larger pattern, the complaint may contribute to an eventual prosecution.

If Your Bank Denies the Claim

Banks don’t always side with the cardholder. If your issuer concludes the charges were authorized and refuses to reverse them, you can escalate through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB accepts credit card complaints through its portal at consumerfinance.gov/complaint, and the form takes about ten minutes.¹¹

Include your dispute timeline, any correspondence with the bank, and the transaction details. The CFPB forwards your complaint directly to the issuer, which generally must respond within 15 days.¹¹ A CFPB complaint often reaches a dedicated resolution team rather than the frontline agents who denied you the first time. After the company responds, you have 60 days to provide feedback on whether the response was adequate.

Debit Cards Follow Different Rules

Everything above applies to credit cards. If the fraudulent charge hit a debit card, the protections are weaker and timing controls how much you can lose. Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, your liability depends on when you report:

Within 2 business days of learning about the theft, your liability is capped at $50.¹²
Between 2 and 60 days after your statement is sent, your liability can reach $500.
After 60 days, you could be on the hook for the full amount of unauthorized transfers the bank can show would have been prevented by earlier reporting.¹²

Fraudulent debit charges also pull money directly from your checking account. Even if the bank eventually refunds everything, you may be short on rent or unable to cover bills while the investigation plays out. With a credit card, the disputed amount sits on a statement rather than leaving your account.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1643 – Liability of Holder of Credit Card
2
Federal Trade Commission. Lost or Stolen Credit, ATM, and Debit Cards
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors
4
Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c-1 – Identity Theft Prevention; Fraud Alerts and Active Duty Alerts
6
Federal Trade Commission. Credit Freezes and Fraud Alerts
7
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Credit Freeze or Security Freeze on My Credit Report
8
Federal Trade Commission. IdentityTheft.gov
9
Federal Trade Commission. Identity Theft Recovery Steps
10
FBI. Internet Crime Complaint Center – Complaint Form
11
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint About a Financial Product or Service
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693g – Consumer Liability