You got scammed. Here is what to do now.
Pick what happened. Sigrel walks you through the next hour in order: who to call first, what to say, what to report, and the recovery scams that follow.
What happened?
I sent money to a scammer · the first three steps
- 1
Call your bank or card company now
Use the number on the back of your card or in the official app, not a number from a text or email. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and to flag your account. For gift cards, call the card company on the number printed on the card. For a wire or crypto transfer, ask the sending company to reverse it.
- 2
Stop all contact with the scammer
Do not send more money, even if they promise a refund or threaten you. Block the number or account.
- 3
Report it to the FTC
Your report helps investigators and gives you a reference number for your bank.
The short answer
Updated 22 October 2026 · Reviewed by the Sigrel team, Texas
If you sent money to a scammer, the first hour matters most. Call the bank or card issuer on the number printed on your card and ask them to reverse or recall the payment; stop all contact with the scammer; then report it to the FTC and, for larger losses, your local police. Anyone who then offers to recover your money for a fee is running a second scam. Sigrel’s free playbooks give these steps in order, with the exact numbers and words to use.
Behind every scan
What is checked, how often, and what you get back. The details, in plain words.
Sources
3 breach-intelligence partners and public leak lists
Each one named in Help with what it covers.
What we watch
6 kinds of identifier
Email, phone, username, gaming handle, email alias and your own domain. Hashed on your device first.
Schedule
Rechecked on a schedule you can see
Every result shows when it last ran. Daily on Pro.
What you get
A fix for every finding
The minutes it takes and the points it gets back. Broker removal across 200+ sites on Pro.
How Sigrel helps
The next hour, then the next month.
Playbooks, in order
Call the bank, stop contact, report, police, recovery scams, change passwords, two-step sign-in, recovery accounts, identity, number ported, carrier.
What else is already out there
If your email was in a combo list, the scammer may have your password too. Sigrel shows which breaches include you, and the fix for each.
So it does not happen twice
A score you can move, one Act-now at a time, and a two-minute brief of what is going around your county.
Who is getting hit, and how
The pattern behind most losses is the same.
Figures quoted with their date and source, never a scare number without one.
FTC · Consumer Sentinel Network
Imposter scams remain the most reported category
The FTC’s data spotlights and annual data book break reported losses down by scam type, payment method and age. The page links to the current edition rather than quoting a figure that goes stale.
Source ↗Sigrel · the Wire
The same scam is usually hitting your neighbours this week
Scams reported in your county, with what to do. Knowing the week’s pattern is the best defence against the next call.
Source ↗Questions
Plain answers.
Can I get my money back?
Sometimes. Card payments and bank transfers can often be reversed if you call within hours; gift cards, wires and crypto are much harder. Call the number on the back of your card first, before anything else.
Should I call the police?
For larger losses, yes, and for anything involving threats. For most scams the FTC report (reportfraud.ftc.gov) and, if it happened online, the FBI’s IC3 report are what investigators use. The playbook says which applies.
Someone offered to recover my money for a fee. Is that real?
No. Recovery scams target people who were just scammed. Nobody legitimate asks for a fee up front to get your money back.
Do I need to change my passwords?
If you gave a code, a password, or clicked a link and signed in, yes, starting with your email account. A free scan shows which of your accounts are already in a breach, so you change the right ones first.
What should I tell my bank?
Say “I was defrauded,” give the date, the amount and how you paid, and ask for a chargeback or a recall. Keep the FTC report number; the bank may ask for it.
Scanned yet? See what else is exposed.
Free, no account, your email is not stored by the scan.