Paid a fraudster? What to do straight away

Realising you have paid a fraudster, or handed over your bank details, is a moment to act quickly but calmly. The Payment Systems Regulator's advice is simple: as soon as you realise you have fallen victim to a scam, immediately contact your bank to report it¹. The national Take Five campaign says the same, and adds the reporting route: contact your bank immediately, and report the scam to the police at reportfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040².

The order matters. Your bank is the only body that can try to stop or recall a payment, freeze a card, block a fraudster's access and, in many cases, refund you, so it comes first. Reporting to the police comes second, and it produces a crime reference number that you may need later, for example if you complain about a refused refund³. Free emotional and practical support, which many victims never realise exists, comes whenever you want it.

Contact your bank first: the steps to take straight away

The bank comes before anything else because it can act on the money while the trail is still warm. If you have lost money, or you spot a transaction you do not recognise, contact your bank immediately using the phone number on the back of your card¹¹. That number is printed on the card itself precisely so you never have to trust a number read out to you by a caller or found in a message.

What you ask the bank to do depends on what happened:

• If you sent money to a scammer, ask the bank to try to recall the payment and to note on your account that you have been a victim of fraud. The bank can also warn the receiving bank.
• If you gave away card details, ask for the card to be frozen and replaced. If you think your credit or debit card, online bank account or cheque book have been stolen or hacked, speak to your bank or building society straight away¹².
• If you shared passwords, PINs or one-time passcodes, tell the bank that too. If you think you have shared sensitive information with a scammer, notify your bank¹³.
• If you gave remote access to your computer, or clicked a link in a message, say so. The bank can watch for unusual logins and payments you did not authorise.

Keep records of all contact and correspondence between you and the scammer, because the Financial Ombudsman Service lists this among the immediate steps alongside contacting your bank and the police¹⁰. Screenshots of texts and emails, the scammer's phone number or account details, and the dates and amounts of every payment all help your bank investigate and support any later refund claim. Do not delete the conversation thread, even if it is embarrassing.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which protects customers of failed financial firms, gives the same starting advice: speak to your bank, building society or credit union, because they can protect and reimburse victims of certain types of fraud, and report it to the national fraud reporting service¹⁴. In other words, the refund conversation happens with the bank, not with the police or a charity.

159: the short number to your bank's genuine fraud team

Dial 159 and you will be connected to your bank's fraud department⁸. The service exists for exactly the situation a fresh scam victim is in: you want to reach your bank, but you cannot be sure that the number in front of you is genuine. The Bank of England's own guidance is that if you are unsure about a call from someone who claims to be from your bank, the safe course is to hang up and dial 159¹⁵.

The number works because it is short and memorable, and because it routes you to your bank's genuine customer service line rather than to any number a caller may have given you⁴. It is designed for moments when you think a scammer is trying to trick you into transferring money to a so-called safe account, or is asking for personal details¹⁶. Consumer guidance for Northern Ireland puts it plainly: dial 159 to be connected safely to your bank, or 101 for the police¹⁷. Official guidance on scam calls and messages says you can also call 159 to check whether you are being targeted by scammers¹⁸.

Two practical points about using it:

• Cost. Calls to 159 are usually charged at the national rate, and it depends on your provider¹⁹. It is not a premium line, but it is not guaranteed free either, so check your call plan if that matters.
• Coverage. The service works if your phone contract is with BT (including EE and Plusnet), Gamma, O2 (including giffgaff), Sky, Three, Vodafone, TalkTalk or Virgin Media⁴. If your bank or network does not take part, use the number on the back of your card or your bank's official app.

One timing rule matters if you have just hung up on a suspicious caller. If you contact your bank immediately after a scam call, wait at least 15 minutes before calling your bank using the same phone, or use a different phone⁶. The reason is that fraudsters can stay on an open landline: you dial the genuine number, but the call never really ended and the scammer is still there. The same advice applies when you hang up and call 159 to verify a call: do it on a different phone line, or after waiting at least 15 minutes²⁰.

The dedicated guide to calling 159 covers the service in more detail, and how to check your bank is really contacting you covers the wider habits that stop impersonation scams in the first place.

Reporting the scam: Report Fraud, or the police on 101 in Scotland

After the bank, report the scam. The national reporting centre is Report Fraud, which was formerly called Action Fraud, and reporting gives you a crime reference number³. You can report online at reportfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040¹⁸. That reference number is worth having: a bank, an insurer or the ombudsman may ask for it, and it is the formal record that the crime was reported.

Where you live changes the phone route:

If you live in Scotland, or the fraud happened there, contact Police Scotland on 101⁵. This is a genuine difference in the system, not a matter of preference: Scotland has its own police reporting route for fraud, while Report Fraud covers the rest of the UK. Several consumer guides make the same point, that scams are reported to Report Fraud, or by calling the police on 101 if you live in Scotland²¹.

In an emergency the rules change: if there are people claiming to be from an official body calling at your home, call 101 to report the scammers, or call 999 if you feel unsafe⁸. A fraud that has already happened is a 101 or online matter; a threat to your safety is a 999 matter.

Reporting does two things for you. First, it creates the paper trail: the ombudsman's immediate steps for scam victims are to contact your bank, contact the police on 101, report the scam to Report Fraud, and keep records of all contact and correspondence with the scammer¹⁰. Second, it feeds the national intelligence picture that leads to warnings and investigations. You can report even if you lost no money; an attempt is worth reporting too²⁰.

The full reporting routes for each nation, including online forms and what happens after you report, are on the where to report a scam page.

When your bank calls you: how to check it is really them

The hardest scam to spot is the one that arrives after the first one. Fraudsters impersonating banks currently use spoofed mobile numbers that show a real bank's name, claiming to be from the bank's fraud department and saying your account has been compromised, to coax you into revealing personal and financial details²². Others impersonate the police, HMRC or well-known companies²³. The caller knows your name, maybe your recent transactions, and sounds exactly like a bank employee, because in some cases they are watching your account in real time.

The rule that defeats all of these is the same: hang up and call back on a number you choose. If you have any suspicion, put the phone down and call the company or institution back directly, waiting a few minutes first or using a different phone, because scammers can hijack your phone line²⁴. Then call 159, or the number on the back of your card, and ask whether the bank really contacted you²⁰.

Things a genuine bank will never do, and which mark a call as a scam:

• Ask you to move money to a "safe account"¹⁶
• Ask you to lie to your bank, for example about the reason for a payment. If someone asks you to lie to your bank, this is a scam: do not engage with them, report them immediately²⁵
• Ask for your full password, PIN or a one-time passcode²⁰
• Ask you to buy a gift card or make a test payment to "catch the fraudster"

One-time passcodes deserve a special mention, because they are where many impersonation scams succeed. A passcode texted to you is meant for you alone; a caller who says "read me the code we just sent" is collecting the last piece they need to get into your account²⁰. The guide to one-time passcodes explains why you get them and why never to share one.

Victim Support: free help for scam victims, 24/7

Losing money to a scammer is not only a financial event. Victim Support, an independent charity that supports victims of crime, provides 24/7 free and confidential support to victims and witnesses of crime in England and Wales⁷. Its helpline is 0808 16 89 111, free to call and open around the clock³. Fraud is a crime, so people who have been scammed are victims of crime and can use the service.

What that support looks like in practice:

• Someone to talk to, day or night, on the phone, without judgement
• Practical help understanding what has happened and what comes next
• Confidentiality: the service is independent of the police and of your bank²⁷

Victim Support is a specialist charity for victims of crimes, including fraud²⁸. Guidance for people helping an older friend or relative who has been scammed points to it as a free, confidential service to talk things through with²⁹, and guidance for carers says the same³⁰. Independent Age, a charity for older people, describes it as offering free practical and emotional support for scam victims³¹.

Two other free services sit alongside it. MoneyHelper, the government-backed money guidance service, encourages people affected by scams to talk to an expert for free, non-judgemental, confidential support³², and its Financial Crimes and Scams Unit can be called on 0800 015 4402⁸. The campaigns behind much of this advice, including Take Five, are covered on the Take Five and Stop! Think Fraud page.

The reason this section exists is that many victims never seek help. Research by the Money and Pensions Service found that one in three people would be uncomfortable telling friends they have been scammed³³, and shame is the scammer's accomplice long after the call ends. A charity helpline removes that barrier: the person on the other end has heard it all before.

What Victim Support can and cannot do

It helps to be clear about the boundary, so you know where to take each problem.

Victim Support can:

• Listen, and provide emotional support at any hour⁷
• Give practical help and information about being a victim of crime³¹
• Support you whether or not the scam has been reported³¹

Victim Support cannot:

• Return your money or pay compensation. It is a charity, not a refund scheme
• Investigate the fraudster. That is for the police
• Decide your bank's refund decision. That is for your bank, and then the ombudsman

Money back comes through a different route. Under the authorised push payment reimbursement rules, most victims of bank transfer scams are reimbursed, with consistent minimum standards and additional protections for vulnerable customers³⁴. Where a victim submits details of a reimbursable payment, the sending bank must pay the reimbursable amount to the victim³⁵. If you are unhappy with how your bank handled things after you were tricked into making a payment, the Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help³⁶, and it can also help with disputes about payments you did not authorise that were not part of a scam²⁷. Victims of high-value scams with losses above £85,000 may be able to escalate their complaint to the ombudsman³⁷.

Outcomes vary, and the ombudsman's published case material shows the range: one impersonation scam victim who lost £9,000 was fully reimbursed, a romance scam victim who lost £550 was denied reimbursement, and a purchase scam victim who lost £600 had a reimbursement decision pending³⁸. The pages on APP reimbursement, claiming a refund from your bank and complaining to your bank set out how the refund process works and where it can be refused.

Where Victim Support's service is available

Victim Support's 24/7 helpline on 0808 16 89 111 covers England and Wales⁷. The charity operates elsewhere in the UK too, but the routes differ by nation, so it is worth knowing what applies where you live.

• England and Wales: the free, 24/7 helpline on 0808 16 89 111³
• Scotland: fraud is reported to Police Scotland on 101⁵, and Citizens Advice Scotland's guidance points victims to the 159 banking line and to their bank for the money side¹⁹
• Northern Ireland: the Consumer Council for Northern Ireland advises using the Stop Scams UK hotline on 159 to get through to your financial institution¹⁶
• UK-wide: MoneyHelper's Financial Crimes and Scams Unit on 0800 015 4402⁸

MoneyHelper's scams support is promoted across the nations: people in Wales affected by romance scams are pointed to its free, confidential expert support⁹, and its warnings about romance scams have been aimed at groups from young single men³⁸ to the general public. After reporting, some victims are also referred to victim care services, such as the Economic Crime Victim Care Unit, which offers advice on how to secure your identity and avoid becoming a victim again²⁸.

That last point matters more than it sounds. Age UK notes that victims of scams can be targeted again, and that support services exist in part to help prevent it happening⁷, often because their details are still circulating, or because a "recovery" fraudster follows up the first crime with a second. Support services that help you secure your identity are not just comfort; they reduce the chance of the loss repeating. The identity theft page covers what to do if your details have been stolen.

Help is available without reporting the scam first

A question many victims quietly ask is whether they must go to the police before anyone will help them. The answer is no. Victims do not have to have reported the scam to get support from Victim Support³¹. The helpline is open to you at the moment you realise something is wrong, even if you have not yet called your bank, and even if you never report the crime at all.

This matters because the things that stop people reporting, shame, fear of being blamed, worry that relatives will think them foolish, are strongest in the first hours. One in three people would be uncomfortable telling friends they have been scammed³³. A confidential charity line sidesteps that entirely: nothing said there starts a police process, and nothing is shared with your bank.

So the practical order for someone who wants help first is:

1. Call Victim Support on 0808 16 89 111, or MoneyHelper's Financial Crimes and Scams Unit on 0800 015 4402⁸, to talk it through
2. When you are ready, call your bank on the number on your card or on 159⁴
3. Report the scam to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or to the police on 101 in Scotland⁵

The bank call is the one that cannot be delayed indefinitely, because the sooner the bank knows, the more it can do to protect your account and to try to recover the money¹. But support does not depend on any of it. If you are helping someone else who has been scammed, the supporting a victim page covers how to raise it with them kindly, and the wider scams and fraud guide explains every type of scam and refund route in detail.