Scams, Fraud & Recovery
How common frauds work, where to report them, and what recovery is realistically available.
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Getting a Fraudulent Wire Recalled: The First Day
A wire sent to a fraudster can sometimes be recalled, but only while the funds are still sitting in the receiving account. This is what to do in the first hours, and in what order.
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Romance and Relationship Scams: Reporting and Recovery
A relationship scam is a long confidence operation that ends in a payment request. Reporting routes exist and are worth using, but the recovery picture is honest rather than comforting.
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Government Impersonation Calls and How to Verify
Impersonators claim to be from the IRS, Social Security, a sheriff's office, or a utility, and they all need a decision from you now. Verification is simple once you know the rules real agencies follow.
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Tech Support and Remote Access Scams
Tech support fraud starts with a warning on your screen and ends with someone else controlling your device. This is how it unfolds and what to do once access has already been granted.
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Investment and Cryptocurrency Fraud Reporting
Investment and digital asset fraud is reported to several agencies at once, each with a different job. This explains who takes what, what happens after filing, and how to check a firm first.
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Employment and Task Scams Targeting Job Seekers
Fraudulent job offers and paid-task apps take money from people looking for work, and some turn applicants into unwitting money movers. Here is how to recognize one and what to do next.
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Charity Fraud and Verifying an Organization
Charity fraud rises whenever a disaster is in the news, and the appeals are built to feel urgent. Verification is quick, uses public records, and never depends on trusting the caller.
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Fake Invoices and Business Email Compromise
Payment redirection fraud works by changing where a real invoice gets paid. It hits businesses, contractors, and home buyers, and the defense is a phone call made before the money moves.
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Elder Financial Exploitation: Freezing and Reporting
Financial exploitation of an older adult can come from a stranger or from someone close. This covers how to report it, who can slow the money down, and what happens next.
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Recovery Scams: The Second Fraud After the First
People who have lost money to fraud are approached again by someone offering to recover it. The second approach is usually run by the same economy that produced the first.
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Reporting Fraud: Which Agency Does What
Fraud reporting is split across agencies that each do a different job, and filing with one does not reach the others. This explains who takes what and in which order.
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Getting Money Back: Chargebacks, Reversals, and Realistic Odds
Whether money can come back depends far more on how it was paid than on how convincing the fraud was. This sets out the routes, the differences, and the honest odds.