If you've already sent money, gift cards, or crypto to someone you now believe is a scammer, the single most useful thing you can do is act within hours, not days — and act in a specific order. This guide skips the background on how these scams work (covered elsewhere on this site) and goes straight to what to do right now.

First: stop, and don't send more

It's common for a scammer to respond to hesitation with a bigger emotional appeal or a slightly different version of the story rather than simply disappearing. Treat any further request, however it's framed, as confirmation rather than a reason to reconsider.

By payment method

Bank wire or transfer: Call your bank's fraud line immediately, not email — wires can sometimes be recalled within a narrow window, typically measured in hours, if the receiving bank hasn't already released the funds. Ask specifically about a wire recall or SWIFT recall request.

Gift cards: Contact the retailer or card issuer's fraud line directly with the card number and PIN. If the balance hasn't been spent yet, some issuers can freeze it — but gift card balances are typically drained within minutes to hours of the code being shared, so speed matters more here than with almost any other method.

Cryptocurrency: Transactions are generally irreversible once confirmed on the blockchain. Save the wallet address and transaction ID/hash regardless — law enforcement can sometimes trace funds through an exchange even when they can't force a return, and that data is part of what makes larger takedown operations possible.

Credit or debit card: Contact your card issuer to dispute the charge as fraudulent. This has a real chance of success, particularly if the charge is recent and the merchant or payment processor is identifiable.

Then: report it, even for small amounts

Reporting matters beyond your own case — the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and similar agencies elsewhere have stated publicly that only an estimated 5–10% of fraud is ever reported, which means the real scale of this crime is likely five to ten times larger than official totals suggest, and under-reporting directly limits how effectively these networks can be tracked and shut down. File with:

Also file a police report with your local department. It's often required by banks and card issuers to process a fraud dispute, even when local police have no realistic way to pursue an overseas scammer directly.

Watch for recovery scams

Once you've reported a loss, especially publicly or in a scam-victim forum, you may be contacted by someone claiming they can recover your funds for an upfront fee. This is a well-documented secondary scam that specifically targets people who've already lost money once. Legitimate law enforcement and consumer protection agencies do not charge a fee to investigate or return funds.

Take care of the rest of your accounts

If you shared any personal information — a full name, address, date of birth, or answers to security questions — during the relationship, consider a credit freeze or fraud alert with the major credit bureaus in your country, and change passwords on any account you may have discussed or shown the scammer.

Consider the tax angle, carefully

In some countries, theft losses from a scam may be partially deductible, though rules here are narrow and have changed over time — this is genuinely worth a conversation with a tax professional or accountant rather than assuming either that nothing can be done or that a deduction is automatic. This site isn't the place for tax advice, but it's worth not ruling out before you file.

Check for coverage you might not know about

Some homeowner's or renter's insurance policies, and certain credit cards, include limited fraud-related coverage or identity-theft protection benefits that policyholders often don't realize they have. It costs nothing to check your existing policies and card benefits guides before assuming a loss is entirely unrecoverable.

Keep a simple written record

A short, dated log of every call, report filed, and reference number you're given makes a real difference if you need to follow up weeks later — fraud cases often involve multiple agencies and long gaps between updates, and a clear record saves you from re-explaining the whole situation from scratch each time.

It's not too late to talk to someone

Financial loss aside, going through a romance scam is a real emotional loss — the relationship, however it started, often felt genuine. Talking to a trusted friend, a support group specifically for scam survivors, or a counselor is a reasonable and common step, not an overreaction.

Acting within the first few hours matters most for wires and gift cards especially — if you're reading this because it just happened, start with your bank or the card issuer before anything else on this page.