Emergency — act now
Money just left your account?
Do not go hunting for the right form yet. In the first minutes after a scam, a theft, or a payment you did not make, three actions matter more than everything else — in this order.
One safety rule before anything: your bank will never ask for your full password, your PIN, or a code from a text message — and nobody legitimate charges a fee to "recover" your money. Anyone who does is a second scam riding on the first.
- 1. Freeze the card in your banking app — now
Open your banking app and freeze (lock) the card the money left from. It takes under a minute and stops the next payment while you work through the rest of this page. If the money left by bank transfer instead, skip to step 2 — your bank is the one who can act on a transfer.
- 2. Call your bank's fraud line
Call the number printed on the back of your card, or the number shown inside your banking app — never a number from a text message or a search ad. Say the payment was not authorized (or that you were tricked into sending it), and ask the bank to start a fraud report and try to stop or recall the payment. Speed matters: a payment that has not settled yet can sometimes still be stopped, and reporting fast protects your legal rights on card and bank-transfer payments alike. Write down the date, the time, and the name of the person you spoke to.
- 3. Change your passwords — from a clean device
Using a device you trust (not one the scammer talked you into installing software on), change your bank password and your email password, and turn on two-factor authentication for both. Your email is the master key: whoever holds it can reset everything else. If you installed any app or screen-sharing tool during the scam, delete it first and do this step from another device.
General information only — not legal or financial advice. These are the standard first actions banks and regulators tell victims to take. Your bank's instructions on the call come first — follow those if they differ.
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