How to Report a Scam or Fraud to the FTC on ftc.gov

To report a scam or fraud to the FTC, go to ftc.gov and use the Report fraud link in the "Take action" section of the site menu. The same menu includes Report identity theft for identity-theft cases. Both routes lead to the FTC's official reporting system, where you describe what happened and submit it. Use the fraud route for deceptive businesses, fake prizes, impersonation and similar schemes; use the identity-theft route when someone has used your personal information. The FTC does not charge a fee to file a report, and you do not need to know legal terminology — a plain description of what happened is what the form asks for.

Before you start

Gather the details that make a report useful:

• Who contacted you — the company or person's name, phone number, email address, website, or social media account.
• What they said or asked for — the offer, the threat, the payment method requested (gift cards, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, gold).
• When and how — dates, and whether contact came by phone, text, email, mail, or online ad.
• What you lost, if anything — amounts paid and how you paid.
• Any documents — screenshots, emails, receipts, or copies of messages.

You can file without all of this, but the more specific the details, the more useful the report is to the FTC's investigators.

Step-by-step: filing a fraud report

1. Open ftc.gov. The homepage's "Take action" menu lists the reporting entries directly.
2. Choose "Report fraud." This opens the FTC's report intake, which walks you through questions about the incident.
3. Describe the scam. Answer the prompts about how you were contacted, what was promised, and what payment or information was requested. Write in your own words; there is no required format.
4. Add your details. Provide contact information if you want the FTC to be able to follow up, and note any dollar amounts lost.
5. Submit and keep the confirmation. After submitting, you receive a reference number. Save it — you may need it if you report the same incident to other agencies or your bank.

Expected result: your report enters the FTC's consumer complaint database, which the agency and its law-enforcement partners use to spot patterns and build cases. A single report rarely produces an individual case file, but reports are the raw material for the enforcement actions the FTC announces.

Step-by-step: reporting identity theft

Select Report identity theft from the same "Take action" menu. The intake collects information about which accounts or documents were misused and what you have already done (for example, contacting your bank or placing a fraud alert). Identity-theft reports are handled through IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC's dedicated recovery tool, which also generates a personal recovery plan and pre-filled letters and forms you can send to creditors and credit bureaus.

The impersonation warning you should know first

The FTC's homepage carries an explicit alert: scammers impersonate the FTC itself. The agency states it will never threaten you, tell you to transfer money to "protect it," or instruct you to withdraw cash or buy gold and hand it over. Anyone who does is running a scam. If you receive such a call, do not comply — report it through the same "Report fraud" route and note that the caller claimed to be from the FTC.

What else the site gives you after reporting

• Consumer alerts — short advisories on current schemes, such as the recent alerts on phone-number deactivation scams, deceptive sextortion "assistance" services, and franchising basics drawn from an FTC case. These are useful for checking whether what happened to you is a known pattern.
• Data visualizations — state-level views of scam and fraud trends built from consumer reports, so you can see what is surging in your area.
• Free credit report access — linked from the "Take action" menu, relevant if your information was exposed.
• Do Not Call registration — for unwanted telemarketing calls.
• "Report Take It Down" violations — a separate channel for certain online content violations.

Common sticking points

• "Will the FTC get my money back?" The FTC's enforcement actions sometimes produce refunds — the site's Amazon refund notice is an example of a settlement payout — but reporting a scam does not itself recover funds. Contact your bank or payment provider immediately about reversing a payment, and treat the FTC report as a separate step.
• "Is this the right agency?" The FTC handles consumer protection and competition matters. Reports about identity theft fit its system; local police reports and your state attorney general may also be appropriate, and the FTC's recovery plan for identity theft tells you which other steps to take.
• "I'm not sure it was a scam." Report anyway if something felt wrong. The FTC's data-visualization tools exist precisely because patterns emerge from many individual reports, including uncertain ones.
• "Do I have to give my name?" The intake asks for contact details so follow-up is possible; decide what you are comfortable sharing, but note that anonymous reports are harder to act on.

Quick reference