Scam Recovery Checklist: What to Do Right Now
Tick everything that happened. You'll get a step-by-step plan built from official FTC guidance, with the most urgent steps first.
Private: this runs in your browser. Nothing you tick is sent anywhere.
How this checklist works
Each step comes from an official U.S. government page, linked under the step, mostly the Federal Trade Commission's guide What To Do if You Were Scammed. We group the steps by urgency and remove duplicates. We don't add anything the official sources don't say.
If you are in danger or being threatened, call 911. If the scammer is still in contact, stop replying. Scammers often come back pretending to be the police, your bank or a "recovery" service.
Not sure which agency handles your case? See where to report each type of scam.
General information, not legal or financial advice. Phone numbers and procedures come from the FTC pages linked with each step, checked on September 24, 2026. If a number has changed, the official page wins.