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I’ve been scammed — will my bank refund the money?

Anna Serio-Ali
Updated
Do banks refund scammed money? (Kseniya Ovchinnikova via Getty Images)

A perfect storm of technological developments and a tumultuous global economy has made scammers more persistent and sophisticated than ever. If you couldn’t keep up with the warning signs of scams this year, you weren’t alone. About 5.4 million Americans reported losing a total of $10 billion to the FTC to scams and fraud in 2023. More than 880,400 people reported losing over $12.5 billion under similar circumstances to the FBI that same year. Both agencies saw a 10% increase in reports from the year before. And while more 20-somethings lost money to scams than any other age group, folks over 70 lost the most per person, according to the FTC.

Whether or not your bank will refund the money you lose in a scam depends on several factors: the type of scam, how you sent the funds, the bank’s policies and if you authorized the transaction. Even if you can’t get the money from your bank, it doesn’t mean you should sit back and cut your losses. Reach out to your bank, other financial institutions and consumer protection agencies to report the incident as soon as you’ve figured out what’s going on. There may be other ways to get financial restitution, and your report could help bring scammers to justice.

Here are some steps you can take once you realize you’ve been scammed:

  • Document everything. Take screenshots of messages and money transfer or payment receipts, download chats and save emails. Make sure it’s all in a safe place, and consider printing backup copies.

  • Contact your bank. Call customer service as soon as possible to report all fraudulent transactions involved in the scam. The sooner you report the scam, the more likely you are to see a refund.

  • Freeze your accounts and cards. While talking to your bank, ask them to freeze any cards or bank accounts, especially those involved in the scam. If you used a card, ask for a new one — after checking to make sure scammers haven’t changed your contact information.

  • Change your passwords. Reset passwords for your online bank logins, your email and anything else a scammer might be able to use to access your money.

  • Strengthen your login security. Set up two-factor authentication or multifactor authentication on sensitive accounts. This security method requires two or more forms of ID to access your accounts — such as biometrics, one-time texted passwords or an authenticator app — rather than only your phone number or email.

  • Scan your computer for malware. Use Windows Security, the Mac Activity Monitor or another scanner to check for malware you might have installed through text or email or software like AnyDesk that some scammers use to remotely access your computer.

  • File a police report. Most scams are illegal. Even if you can’t get your bank to refund the money, a filed report with law enforcement may be helpful if you eventually have the opportunity to take legal action against the scammer.

Whether or not your bank will refund your money after a financial scam depends on several factors, including how you sent the money, how much you sent and how quickly you filed a report.

The circumstances of the scam also affect whether you’ll get the money back. If you willingly send money to a scammer, your bank likely won’t refund you. However, if you were a victim of fraud — for example, someone hacked into your bank account or stole your identity — you may have more luck in getting your money back. Regardless of what happened, it’s always worth notifying any participating companies about what happened so they can help prevent it from happening to somebody else.

Credit and debit cards are the payment method of choice for scammers, according to the FTC. Fortunately, reversing this type of payment is a lot easier than other methods. Once you’re aware of the situation, call your credit card provider to explain what happened. In most cases, you’ll be able to dispute the charge. Some card issuers like American Express have a limit to how long you can wait before disputing the charge, so the sooner you reach out, the better.

Before you pick up the phone, make sure to have evidence on hand — receipts, conversations and anything else to prove your case. If you’re successful, the credit card company will refund the amount you sent to a scammer. This process can take anywhere from a little over a week to as long as 90 business days to resolve.

If you’ve sent an electronic money transfer through your bank, you may be able to reverse the transaction after it’s gone through, depending on your bank’s policy. Wire transfers generally cannot be reversed once they’ve been sent, though you may be able to catch a transfer ahead of time.

Success also depends on your bank’s policy:

  • Chase Bank and U.S. Bank don’t allow you to cancel domestic same-day wires, but give until 11:59 p.m. on the day before the wire is scheduled to go through on future-dated wires.

  • Citibank also won’t let you cancel immediate transfers, but gives you until 5:45 a.m. ET on the day the transfer is scheduled to go through.

  • Wells Fargo allows you to cancel wires only if the wire transfer status still shows “submitted.”

  • Capital One doesn't allow you to make any changes to domestic wires once they’re submitted.

With international wires, on the other hand, banks typically give you 30 minutes to cancel the transaction. If you’re unable to cancel the transaction yourself, call your bank’s fraud department and explain the situation.

Like bank transfers, there’s little you can do after a money transfer has been picked up or deposited with a company that sends international wire transfers. But you can often cancel your money transfer as long as it’s still with the company.

Western Union offers several different ways to cancel a transfer, depending on how you initiated the transaction. If you sent money through the company’s app, all you need to do is log in, navigate to the recent transfers page and find a cancel link for all eligible transactions. You can also go into a store or call customer service if you initiated the transfer in person or over the phone.

Wise, RIA and MoneyGram have similar policies, though MoneyGram charges wire transfer fees starting one hour after you initiate the payment. WorldRemit allows you to recall transfers that have already been paid — but you’ll need consent from the recipient to return the funds.

Once your money is in a scammer’s hands, however, the wire transfer company can’t help you get the transferred money back. You can still file a report with the company, which might help ban the fraudster from using that service.

Unfortunately, domestic money transfers through apps like Venmo or PayPal are particularly difficult to reverse. That’s because apps typically tend to transfer the funds more quickly than banks, and generally there’s no recourse for scam victims to recover their money.

Here’s how it works on some money transfer apps:

  • Venmo doesn’t allow you to cancel payments once they’ve been sent — which happens almost immediately. You could go out on a limb and send your scammer a payment request, but it’s unlikely they’ll accept it. Call 855-812-4430 if you think you’ve paid for a scam.

  • Cash App also doesn’t allow you to cancel payments, which are instantaneous. There is a method to request a refund from the payment recipient, though it may not be successful.

  • PayPal allows you to cancel transactions that are still pending. It also allows you to file a dispute against a seller as long as you file it within 180 days of the transaction.

  • Zelle allows you to cancel a payment if the recipient isn’t enrolled with Zelle, but it may offer a reimbursement for money you sent to an imposter scammer, depending on the circumstances. Contact customer support at 844-428-8542 as soon as possible.

  • Apple Cash lets you cancel transactions before the recipient accepts the payment, but once they do, that money is gone.

  • Meta Pay doesn’t appear to allow you to cancel transfers, but you can report an unauthorized charge through your Facebook account.

If apps are connected to a card, rather than your bank account, you can report it to your bank or credit card company and dispute the transaction.

If you recently sent cash or gift cards to an address in the US, contact your shipping company immediately and request a package intercept:

  • If you used USPS, call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455 or log in to your USPS account and ask to intercept the package. Not all packages are eligible for intercept, and there’s no guarantee you’ll get it back, but it’s worth a shot.

  • If you used UPS, you can request to have a package returned as long as you request an intercept before the first delivery attempt. You can do this through your UPS account, if you have one. Otherwise, call 800-742-5877 or visit a UPS store.

  • If you used FedEx, you can cancel deliveries and have the package returned through your online FedEx account or at a FedEx store. Or call 800-463-3339.

Once your package is delivered, the chances of you getting that package back is vanishingly slim.

There’s not much recourse if you send a scammer cryptocurrency. Crypto transactions usually aren’t reversible, unless the recipient willingly sends you back the funds. If you sent crypto to a scammer, file a report with the exchange and for your money back. Exchanges generally don’t have the power to recover funds, but your report could help exchanges build protections against future scams.

Unfamiliar charges are evidence of fraud, which, unlike scams, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act protects you against.

Here’s how it works:

  • If you report a stolen or lost credit or debit card within two days of learning it was stolen, you’re liable for paying only up to $50 in unauthorized transactions.

  • If you report a stolen or lost credit or debit card after two days of noticing it’s missing — or within 60 days of receiving a statement with unauthorized charges — you won’t pay more than $500 in unauthorized charges. Charges after those first 60 days will not be refunded.

  • If your account was hacked and you report unauthorized transactions within 60 days, you will receive a full refund. However, unauthorized transactions after those first 60 days will not be refunded.

Since consumer protections typically focus on preventing fraud — rather than scams — you are far from alone if you’re unable to get your money back. If that’s the case, keep records of your interaction with your bank on hand and consider taking these steps:

  • File a report with the FTC on the government agency’s website. The FTC won’t resolve your case, but it can use the information you provide to bring large, federal cases against scammers and their partners in the U.S.

  • File a complaint with your state attorney general, which you can find on the National Association of Attorneys General website. This may help your state government bring a case against scammers and their partners in your state.

  • Submit a complaint to the CFPB if your scammer was using a fake business to lure people in. You can do this on the CFPB website. If a business receives enough complaints, the CFPB may take action against it.

  • Report identity theft to the FTC through the agency’s digital assistant if you think your identity was stolen, and follow the recovery plan they recommend to protect yourself.

  • File a police report, if you haven’t already, presenting all of the evidence and documents that you can. Police may not be able to do much if your scammer was overseas, but there’s a chance you’ll be able to get restitution from local actors.

Yes, it’s worth doing all this work if your scammer operates overseas. Many international scammers rely on people in the U.S. to move around money and hide their tracks. If you sent money to a U.S. bank account or address, it’s likely that you sent the funds to a money mule.

A money mule is a middleman that collects the money from targets and sends it to the scammers, typically taking a cut of the funds for themselves. Sometimes money mules are aware of what they’re doing, though often they’re also victims of accidental payment, work-from-home, lottery or romance scams themselves. Identifying a money mule can help investigators find the source of the scam and shut it down. Acting as a money mule is also illegal, and those individuals may be charged with money laundering, mail fraud or wire fraud. If they’re charged, you may be able to recoup some of your losses.

If you file reports, it’s possible that even your scammers still might have their day in court. For example, two men were extradited from the Dominican Republic in July 2024 over their role in a scam that targeted seniors by impersonating their grandchildren. In October 2024, a British-Nigerian scammer received a seven-year sentence in Texas and was ordered to pay nearly a million dollars to his victims as restitution. It might take years to get some of your money back — but it can happen.

Recovery scammers target people who have just lost money to another scam. Typically, recovery scammers will promise to get the money back in exchange for an upfront fee. After you pay, they vanish.

These types of scammers often disguise themselves as lawyers, government officials or another type of official, but be wary of anyone making promises about recovery that seem too good to be true — especially if they ask you to pay for their services ahead of time.

Taking these precautions can be a great way to keep your financial information and identity safe online — and away from scammers:

  • Monitor your accounts regularly, checking your statement each month. The sooner you catch an unauthorized transaction, the more likely you’ll get your money back.

  • Choose a strong password for your financial accounts. Aim for at least 12 characters that combine letters, numbers and symbols. It can represent a word or phrase that’s easy for you to remember, but don’t reference personal information that’s easy to identify or guess.

  • Set up two-factor or multifactor authentication using an authenticator app, if possible.

  • Sign up for e-statements rather than paper. Stolen paper statements can help identity thieves get ahold of your information.

  • Ask to call back if you get a phone call from your bank, the IRS or another institution. Scammers can make it look like they’re calling from a legitimate phone number, and you can confirm the request by calling back at the publicly available number.

Generally, payment apps like Zelle and Venmo are safe. However, scammers often use them because it’s more difficult for you to get your money back. If you do choose to use one of these apps, only send money to people you know. If you receive a payment request from someone you know, confirm it with them over the phone or in person before you send the funds — scammers can trick some of these apps into thinking they’re using that person’s phone number.

If you don’t know the person you’re sending money to and you’re sure it’s a legitimate expense, use a payment method that offers more protection, such as a credit or debit card. It can also help to draw out the situation. Scammers typically want you to send them money as quickly as possible, before you have a chance to catch on.

Dig deeper: 5 places you shouldn’t use your debit card (and 3 situations when you should)

These tips can help you avoid getting caught up in the most common scams targeting Americans:

  • Silence unknown numbers on your cellphone. Often scammers are just calling to see if your number is active. If you pick up or they go to voicemail, you might get even more spam calls.

  • Don’t respond to text messages from strangers. Especially if they’re offering a job or romantic prospect that sounds too good to be true.

  • Be on alert for urgent money requests, pushy salespeople, professionals who use inappropriate language and other suspicious activity. If you don’t have enough time to think about what you’re doing, you may be talking to scammers.

  • Only use official phone numbers when responding to voicemails from financial institutions or the government. The number that they ask you to call back could lead you right into the lap of a scammer.

  • If someone you know calls to ask for money, call them back. This could be a grandparent scam, where scammers use AI to impersonate grandchildren or other relatives. If you call them back and they aren’t confused, then it’s likely a legitimate request (though it doesn’t hurt to confirm it in person).

  • Don’t click links in emails to avoid phishing scams. If you get information about an update to an account in your name, log in to that account and proceed from there. Or contact customer service to make sure it’s legitimate.

  • Check your spelling when setting up a new appliance like a TV or Alexa. Scammers sometimes buy up commonly misspelled domains to lure folks into a tech support scam.

Dig deeper: Top 15 financial scams targeting older Americans — and what you can do to keep your money safe

Learn more about how to protect your money against financial scams and fraud with these common questions.

Today’s most common scams use sophisticated technology and tools to target your trust, playing on your empathy or fear to get what they want. The best way to avoid falling for a scam is awareness. Learn more about the methods of phishing, vishing and smishing, as well as the specifics of impersonation, peer-to-peer payment and other scams, in our guide to the top financial scams targeting Americans.

While these terms are used interchangeably to refer to wrongful or deceptive crimes that result in financial loss, they carry specific meaning when it comes to financial crime.

Fraud involves a criminal stealing your personal information or accessing financial accounts without your knowledge, whereas scams tend to rely on your participation — for instance, tricking you into sending money to a scammer. This difference can affect how easily you’re able to get your money back after a crime. Banks, financial institutions and money apps offer protections against fraud, which is a serious crime, making it easier for you to recoup your financial losses. These same institutions may not be as willing to refund your money after “authorized” scam payments, unfortunately.

It depends on your needs and budget. AOL partners with Experian CreditCenter, AppGuard and Norton Online Security, among other products, that protect your identity, safety and security — many offering free trials for you to test whether it's right for you.

But you might not have to pay for credit monitoring — CreditWise from Capital One is a free service that monitors your personal information online and on the dark web, alerting you if it finds your bank account details, passwords, Social Security number or email address have been stolen or compromised.

Yes. Look into assigning a fiduciary to manage your finances alongside you. A professional, licensed fiduciary is required by law to make decisions with your best interests in mind and only to manage your finances in a way that you’ve agreed on. Learn more about how to find a trusted retirement advisor, including looking for — and, importantly, vetting — a fiduciary.

Anna Serio-Ali is a trusted lending expert who specializes in consumer and business financing. A former certified commercial loan officer, Anna's written and edited more than a thousand articles to help Americans strengthen their financial literacy. Her expertise and analysis on personal, student, business and car loans has been featured in Business Insider, CNBC, Nasdaq and ValueWalk, among other publications, and she earned an Expert Contributor in Finance badge from review site Best Company in 2020.

Article edited by Kelly Suzan Waggoner

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