Every major fraud reporting agency in one place: what each is best for, and what happens after you file. All links go to official government sites.
Showing 12 of 12 reporting places
Anyone who does not know where to report a scam.
General fraud
A short decision tree based on where the scam occurred and its category. It routes you to the right agency rather than collecting the final report itself.
General scams, deceptive businesses, impersonation, unwanted calls, and consumer fraud.
General fraudBusinessesOnline crime
Collects the scam category, payment and loss details, suspect information, and your story; reporter details are optional. You get a report number and tailored next steps. Reports feed the Consumer Sentinel law-enforcement database; the FTC generally does not resolve individual cases.
Fraud involving misuse of your identity: SSN, accounts, or cards opened in your name.
Identity theft
Produces an official FTC Identity Theft Report and a personalized recovery plan. Creating an account lets you track recovery tasks and generate pre-filled letters and forms.
Cybercrime, online scams, ransomware, business email compromise, cryptocurrency fraud, and internet-enabled financial crime.
Online crimeInvestments
A detailed seven-part law-enforcement intake covering you, transactions, suspects, the incident narrative, and other agency reports. Analysts review and forward reports to the right agencies, but IC3 does not provide investigation status updates.
Problems with banks, cards, credit reporting, debt collection, loans, mortgages, money transfers, or virtual currency services.
Banking & credit
A comparatively closed-loop process: the CFPB screens your complaint and sends it to the company, provides status updates, and lets you review the response. Companies generally respond within 15 days, with up to 60 days for a final response.
Investment fraud, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, market manipulation, and securities violations.
Investments
Accepts confidential tips and whistleblower submissions and generates a submission number. Anonymous whistleblowers seeking an award must file through an attorney.
Tax evasion, fraudulent returns, tax preparer misconduct, IRS impersonation, and tax-related identity theft.
Taxes
An initial routing questionnaire directs you to the correct form or reporting method. The IRS now offers this as a single consolidated entry point for reporting tax scams and fraud.
Social Security benefit fraud, SSN misuse, representative-payee fraud, and SSA impersonation scams.
Gov. benefits
Separates fraud against SSA programs from scams impersonating the SSA. Reports may be anonymous or confidential. The OIG may investigate, refer, or close a report, but does not provide status updates.
Medicare, Medicaid, healthcare billing fraud, HHS grants or contracts, kickbacks, and program abuse.
Gov. benefits
Requests involved parties, dates, scope, witnesses, your narrative, and supporting evidence. It is an investigative hotline, not a way to get refunds or resolve personal benefits disputes.
Mail fraud, lottery and sweepstakes scams, fraudulent mailings, mail theft, and fraudulent address changes.
Routes you into separate forms by postal offense. Note: misconduct by a USPS employee belongs with the USPS OIG instead.
Fraud, waste, abuse, or contract/grant wrongdoing involving federal agencies.
Gov. programs
Routes disclosures to the appropriate agency Inspector General and separately handles whistleblower-retaliation routing. Primarily a jurisdiction finder.
California complaints against businesses not regulated by a more specialized agency.
CaliforniaBusinesses
Collects your and the business’s information, disputed amount, desired resolution, prior contacts, narrative, and up to five documents. The office may refer complaints or use them to identify patterns, but does not act as your attorney.
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Every link on this page goes to an official government website. Reporting is free. Anyone who charges a fee to "file your report" or "recover your money" is a scammer.
Scam questions and help finding your way around this site.
