If it is happening right now
You are either still on the call, or an hour past it, and your hands are not steady. Read the first line below, then work down the page in order — nothing here asks you to explain yourself.
Stop sending money
Every further payment is the only part of this you still control. Not the money already gone. This one.
United States · National Elder Fraud Hotline · U.S. Department of Justice
Do these four things now
In this order. The first one costs nothing and matters most.
Stop sending money. Stop answering the caller.
Every further payment is the only part of this you still control. Hang up, close the chat, and do not call back on any number they gave you. If they ring again, let it ring.
Keep everything. Delete nothing.
The messages, the phone numbers, the receipts, the transfer confirmations, the app itself. Do not tidy up and do not uninstall anything. It is the evidence, and the people you are about to call will ask for it.
Call your bank, or the card issuer, and ask them to stop or recall the payment.
Use the number printed on your own card or statement, not one from the caller. Say the word fraud, say when you sent the money, and ask them to attempt a recall. Speed matters more than the wording.
Report it.
Reporting quickly raises the odds of recovery, and it is how these operations are traced. In the United States a hotline is staffed by case managers who will walk you through what to do next. Every number is below.
Go to the numbers
If you already sent it
Find the line that matches what you did. Each one is drawn from the case we took apart in that episode.
You bought gift cards and read out the numbers
If you have already read out the numbers: call the card issuer and ask them to freeze the card immediately. Keep the card. Keep the receipt. Then report it — reporting quickly raises the odds of getting money back.
Source · Episode 03
The Gift Card Scam Is a Money LaundryYou put cash in the post or gave it to a courier
If cash is already in the mail, call the shipping company immediately with the tracking number. The FTC records cases where people stopped the package in time.
Source · Episode 02
“Grandma, I Need Bail Money.” Anatomy of a $2M ScamYou sent a wire transfer or cryptocurrency
Stop sending. There is almost always a request for one more payment — a fee, a tax, a release charge — and it is part of the same script. Keep every message and every wallet address, take screenshots before anything is deleted, and report it to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Report it even if you are unsure. Nobody can promise you the money back, and anyone who does is the next scam.
Source · Episode 01
The Pig Butchering Scam That Killed a BankIf someone contacts you afterwards offering to recover the money for a fee, that is a second scam working the same list. Use the official reporting lines below instead.
Where to report it
These are the official routes. They take the report, they are used to this call, and no one on the other end will judge you. If you are not sure which one, start at the top.
Start here · United States
National Elder Fraud Hotline (U.S. Department of Justice)
1-833-372-8311Trained case managers who walk you — or your parent — through exactly what to do next.
United States
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
ic3.govFile a report on any internet-enabled fraud. Reporting quickly raises the odds of recovery.
FTC — ReportFraud
reportfraud.ftc.govThe federal consumer-protection record. Feeds the Consumer Sentinel database.
AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline
877-908-3360Free helpline, open to anyone — you do not need to be a member.
United Kingdom
Canada
Australia
Keep a copy by the telephone, or hand it to someone who needs it.
If you are calling about a parent
You were not foolish. You were up against a production line.
Lead with the machine, not the mistake
Open with what was on the other end: a payroll of openers, dispatchers, runners and money desks, prosecuted as organised crime. Nobody argues with an organisation chart. People do argue with being told they were careless, and then they stop telling you things.
Ask what happened, in order
How did they make contact. What did they ask for first. What was sent, when, and how. You are collecting the facts the bank and the hotline will ask for — not building a case against your parent.
Agree a family question today
Settle on one question a stranger could never answer, and use it every time money and urgency arrive in the same phone call. A real grandchild passes. An actor hangs up. Do not test the voice — the crying exists precisely to beat that test.
Where this comes from · Episode 02How to tell, next time
Every episode ends with three tells. They are collected on one page you can print: The Three Tells.
This page is general educational information. It is not legal or financial advice, and it is not a substitute for speaking to your bank. The organisations listed above are the authoritative route: they take the report, they hold the record, and they are the ones who can act.