Where to Report Scams: FTC, IC3, and Local Agencies

For most scams, report to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If the scam happened online, also file with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Depending on how you were contacted and how you paid, you may also need to report to a specialized federal agency, your state attorney general, local police, and your bank. This guide walks through where to report scams and what each channel actually does.

The Two Main Federal Portals

Federal Trade Commission

The FTC is the central federal agency for consumer fraud complaints. Reports submitted at ReportFraud.ftc.gov feed into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a database shared with thousands of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.¹ The online form walks you through questions about the scam type, how much you paid, how you paid, and a written description of what happened.²

Filing does not guarantee the FTC will pursue your individual case. When enough reports point to the same scam operation, though, the agency uses that pattern to bring enforcement actions and seek restitution.

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center

If the scam happened through email, a website, social media, or a mobile app, file with IC3 at ic3.gov. IC3 is the FBI’s main intake point for cyber-enabled crime, covering phishing, ransomware, business email compromise, online auction fraud, and cryptocurrency schemes.³ IC3 staff review reports and may refer cases to FBI field offices or other agencies.

When a victim reports a fraudulent wire transfer quickly, IC3’s Recovery Asset Team can work with banks to freeze the funds before the scammer moves them. Speed is critical: recovery rates drop sharply after the first 24 hours. For a cryptocurrency scam, include the names of any exchanges you used to send or receive funds.⁴

Specialized Federal Agencies by Scam Type

Some scams have their own dedicated reporting channels. File with these in addition to the FTC or IC3, not instead of them.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Report scams that used the mail (sweepstakes letters, fake check schemes, fraudulent packages) at uspis.gov/report or 1-877-876-2455. Forward suspicious emails or texts claiming to be from USPS to spam@uspis.gov.⁵
Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General. For misuse of your Social Security number, benefit theft, or SSA impersonation, file at oig.ssa.gov or call 1-800-269-0271, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern.⁶
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Report fake IRS agents, fraudulent tax filings, and phishing emails impersonating the IRS or Treasury. Call 1-800-366-4484 or file at tigta.gov. Forward IRS-themed phishing emails to phishing@irs.gov.⁷
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. For scams involving a bank, credit card issuer, money transfer service, or debt collector, submit a complaint at consumerfinance.gov. The CFPB forwards your complaint to the company and works to get you a response, generally within 15 days.⁸
Federal Communications Commission. Report illegal robocalls, spoofed caller ID, and unwanted commercial texts at fcc.gov/complaints. Choose the phone form and select “unwanted calls.”⁹
National Elder Fraud Hotline. Scam victims age 60 and older, or anyone calling on their behalf, can reach trained specialists at 833-372-8311, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. Staff help identify whether a communication is a scam, file IC3 reports, and connect callers with local resources.¹⁰

State and Local Reporting

State attorneys general enforce consumer protection laws within their borders. Most offices have an online complaint form on their official website, and they can seek court orders to stop scammers operating locally and, in some cases, pursue restitution.

Filing a report with local police creates a formal record and generates a case number. Financial institutions often require a police report before reversing fraudulent transactions or processing an insurance claim. Even when police lack jurisdiction over a scammer in another state or country, the report itself is useful for other recovery steps. Many departments provide the initial report at no charge; certified copies typically cost a small fee.

Investment fraud (fake brokers, Ponzi schemes, unlicensed sellers of securities) falls under your state’s securities regulator. Each state has an office that investigates these complaints and can act against firms operating without proper registration. Find yours through your state government website or by searching for your state’s name along with “securities regulator.”

Call Your Bank or Card Issuer Right Away

If you paid the scammer, contacting your financial institution is often more urgent than filing a government report. Ask the fraud department to freeze the account, reverse charges, or recall a transfer.

For credit card fraud, federal rules give you 60 days from the date the creditor sends the billing statement to dispute unauthorized charges in writing.¹¹ Missing that window can limit your ability to reverse the charges.

For fraudulent wire transfers, call the bank the moment you realize what happened and ask them to initiate a recall through the SWIFT network. File an IC3 report at the same time; IC3’s Recovery Asset Team has helped freeze funds when victims reported within hours.³ Once funds are moved to a second account, converted to cryptocurrency, or withdrawn as cash, recovery becomes far less likely.

Also notify any digital platform where the scam started, whether a social media site, a dating app, or an online marketplace. Reporting the scammer’s profile helps the platform remove the account and may preserve data that law enforcement can request later. If you sent cryptocurrency, report the transaction to the exchange you used; exchanges can flag or freeze the receiving wallet, though they are not always required to do so.⁴

What to Gather Before You File

A good report is specific. Before you open any complaint form, pull together:

The scammer’s phone numbers, email addresses, and social media usernames.
Exact dates of contact and a written summary of the conversation while it’s fresh.
Screenshots of text messages, social media profiles, websites the scammer directed you to, and any advertisements that led you to the scam.
For fraudulent emails, the original message rather than a forward. The full message contains routing data in its header that helps investigators trace the sender.
The payment method and reference details: wire transaction numbers, gift card serial numbers, or cryptocurrency wallet addresses.
Your total loss and a separate line for each payment.

You can share as much or as little personal contact information as you choose. Providing more detail gives investigators more to work with.²

If Your Personal Information Was Exposed

If a scammer got your Social Security number, bank account details, or other personal information, lock down your identity even if no fraudulent account has appeared yet.

Fraud Alerts

Contact any one of the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion) and ask to place a fraud alert. The bureau you contact is required by law to notify the other two. An initial alert lasts at least one year and signals to creditors that they should verify your identity before opening new accounts. If you file a formal identity theft report, you can request an extended fraud alert that lasts seven years.¹²

Credit Freezes

A credit freeze blocks access to your credit report entirely until you lift it. Unlike a fraud alert, a freeze stays in place indefinitely, and you control when to remove it. Freezes are free to place and remove at all three nationwide bureaus under federal law.¹³ A freeze is generally stronger protection than an alert because it prevents new creditors from pulling your report at all.

IdentityTheft.gov

The FTC’s dedicated portal at IdentityTheft.gov walks you through a personalized recovery plan. After you describe what happened, the site generates a formal FTC Identity Theft Report and pre-fills letters and forms you can send to creditors, debt collectors, and government agencies.¹⁴ If you create an account, the site tracks your progress and updates your plan.

For a stolen Social Security number specifically, the FTC recommends also filing a local police report. Bring your FTC Identity Theft Report, a government-issued photo ID, and proof of your address. Together they create what’s called an Identity Theft Report, which carries extra legal weight when you dispute fraudulent accounts.¹⁵ If you’re worried about fraudulent bank accounts being opened in your name, contact ChexSystems at 1-800-428-9623 to check your records and add a security alert.

What Happens After You Report

After you submit a report to the FTC, IC3, or another federal agency, you’ll receive a confirmation number or reference code. Keep it. You may need it for insurance claims, bank disputes, or follow-up correspondence.

Federal agencies generally do not investigate individual fraud reports the way a local detective investigates a burglary. Your report joins a database of similar complaints. When enough reports point to the same scam operation, agencies use that pattern to build enforcement cases, seek court orders, and sometimes recover funds. Your individual report may not result in a call from an investigator, but it contributes to the picture that drives enforcement.¹

One boundary worth knowing: the FTC Act itself does not give consumers a private right to sue scammers directly. Other federal consumer protection laws governing credit cards and electronic fund transfers do allow individual lawsuits, including the potential for statutory damages and attorney’s fees. If you want to pursue the scammer for money damages yourself, small claims court handles disputes up to a dollar limit that varies by state.

1
Federal Trade Commission. Consumer Sentinel Network
2
Federal Trade Commission. How to Report Fraud at ReportFraud.ftc.gov
3
Internet Crime Complaint Center. Home Page
4
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud
5
United States Postal Inspection Service. Report
6
Social Security Administration. Fraud Prevention and Reporting
7
Internal Revenue Service. Report Fake IRS, Treasury or Tax-Related Emails and Messages
8
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Contact Us
9
Federal Communications Commission. Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts
10
COPS Office. National Elder Fraud Hotline
11
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1026.13 – Billing Error Resolution
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681c-1 – Identity Theft Prevention; Fraud Alerts
13
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is a Credit Freeze or Security Freeze on My Credit Report?
14
Federal Trade Commission. IdentityTheft.gov – Steps
15
USAGov. Identity Theft