What to do in the first 24 hours

First, stop sending

This includes anything framed as the final step. A fee, a tax, a compliance hold, a minimum balance, a payment required to release your withdrawal. Every one of those is part of the same scheme and paying it recovers nothing.

If you are being told that one more payment unlocks everything, that is the scheme continuing, not ending.

Contact your bank immediately

This is the most time-sensitive step on the list. Some transfers can be recalled if caught quickly, and the window is measured in hours rather than days.

Call the number on the back of your card or in your banking app — not a number anyone sent you. Tell them you believe you have been defrauded and ask specifically about recall, chargeback, and freezing any further payments to the same recipient.

If you shared card details, banking logins or identity documents, say so. That changes what they need to do.

Cryptocurrency is different and harder. Transactions are generally irreversible. Contact the exchange you bought through anyway — they can sometimes flag receiving addresses, and it creates a record.

Preserve everything before you block them

This is the step people skip and regret. The moment you block or they disappear, access to the evidence goes with them.

Screenshot the entire conversation, not just the parts about money. Capture the profile, the photographs, the username, the phone number, any email addresses, any wallet addresses, any platform or website URLs, and the transaction records from your bank or exchange.

Save transaction hashes for any crypto payments. Those are permanent and traceable even when the funds are not recoverable.

Put it all in one folder. You will need it more than once.

Do not confront them yet

The instinct is powerful and it works against you.

Once they know you have realised, the account frequently vanishes along with the evidence. Gather everything first. There is nothing they can say that will help you, and a confrontation gives them the chance to talk you into one more payment.

Some victims report being persuaded back after confronting. That is not weakness, it is what a practised operator does.

Report it

Your national fraud body. In the United States, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. In the United Kingdom, Action Fraud. In Canada, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. In Australia, Scamwatch through the National Anti-Scam Centre.

The platform where you met. This is what actually removes the account and protects whoever it is shown to next.

The exchange or payment service if crypto or a money transfer service was involved.

Reporting rarely recovers money, and it is still worth doing. Patterns across reports are how these operations get identified, and the underreporting is a large part of why they keep working.

Expect the second wave, and refuse it

Within days or weeks you may be contacted by someone offering to recover your funds. A crypto tracing firm. An investigator. Someone claiming to represent law enforcement or a regulator. They will ask for a fee upfront.

This is documented, widespread, and in some cases run by the same operation working from a list of people they already know have money and are desperate.

Legitimate recovery of cryptocurrency sent to a fraud operation is extraordinarily difficult, and no legitimate body charges an upfront fee to investigate a crime. Treat any unsolicited offer to get your money back as a second attempt on you.

Then look after yourself

The financial loss is frequently not the worst part. The grief for a relationship that felt real, and the humiliation, are both commonly reported and both legitimate.

You were targeted by a professional process that runs for months using refined scripts. Being deceived by that is not a character failure. It is what happens when a sophisticated method meets an ordinary person.

Tell one person you trust. The shame is what keeps most of this unreported, and isolation is what the whole scheme depended on in the first place.

If you are in crisis in the United States, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available by call or text, 24 hours a day. Outside the US, findahelpline.com lists services by country.

Common questions

Can I get my money back after a romance scam?

Sometimes, and it depends heavily on how the money moved and how fast you act. Bank transfers caught within hours can occasionally be recalled. Card payments may be eligible for chargeback. Cryptocurrency is generally irreversible. Contact your bank immediately rather than waiting.

Should I confront the scammer?

Not before you have preserved the evidence. Once they know you have realised, accounts frequently disappear along with the conversation history you will need for reporting. Screenshot everything first.

Will the police investigate a romance scam?

Reports are logged and contribute to identifying patterns and operations, though individual cases involving overseas operators are rarely resolved for the victim. Reporting remains worthwhile, both for the record and because aggregated reports are how these networks get disrupted.

Someone contacted me offering to recover my money. Is it real?

Almost certainly not. Recovery scams targeting people who have already lost money are widespread and sometimes run by the same operation. No legitimate investigator or agency charges an upfront fee to recover funds from fraud.

How long do I have to report a romance scam?

There is no deadline for reporting, but the window for recovering money is very short — often hours for bank transfers. Report to your bank first and immediately, then to your national fraud body.