Some Victims Are Able to Recover Money After Scams. Here’s How.

• Stop communicating with the criminal
• Preserve evidence
• Notify financial institutions
• Report the crime to law enforcement 

To improve your chances of recovering money, take these steps.

Catch your breath. Before you leap into action, take a few minutes to gather yourself.  

“Scam victims are often in a heightened state of fear, embarrassment or urgency,” says Abramson. “Taking a brief pause helps regulate the nervous system so you can think clearly and take the right steps.”

Gather your records. Among the records that investigators will likely want to review are emails, texts, phone numbers, transaction receipts, screenshots, account statements and timelines that will help banks and law enforcement trace patterns and identify accounts being used to move or hide stolen money.

Act fast. “The single most important factor is speed,” says Abramson. “Victims should immediately — after taking a deep breath — contact their bank, credit card issuer or payment platform and clearly state that they are reporting fraud. Financial institutions can sometimes freeze or recall transactions if alerted quickly, particularly with wire transfers, ACH payments or newer digital payment platforms.”

Report the scam. Once you’ve notified your financial institutions, contact your local police (here’s our advice on how to do so).

“The sooner you are willing to get yourself in front of a qualified investigator, the more likely you are to recover [your money],” says West. Local law enforcement may or may not be equipped to handle a scam case, but reporting is still important “because we want them to understand: Hey, you’ve got a problem in your community,” she says. Another benefit: In identity theft cases, a police report often satisfies creditors and agencies that want proof of the crime, notes the Identity Theft Resource Center. 

Also report the scam to your state attorney general’s office (in Minnesota, a new Consumer Protection Restitution Account will help victims of various scams receive compensation for losses) and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov).

“There is a chance, a very small chance, that someday what you have reported will be connected to something else, and there will be a recovery, and you will end up getting your money back,” says West.

Investigate crypto ATM recovery. At least two states are helping victims recover money sent to scammers via crypto kiosks. The state of Maine reached a $1.9 million settlement in January with Bitcoin Depot, a crypto ATM operator. The settlement reimburses people who used the company’s ATMs in Maine from 2022 to 2025 to convert cash into cryptocurrency for fraud criminals. In Arizona, a new law allows victims of crypto ATM scams to apply for a refund. And Indiana recently became the first state to outlaw crypto kiosks, with AARP’s backing.

Operation Shamrock has also had some success recovering crypto ATM fees.  

“Sometimes, even if we can’t get your money back, we can get back the exorbitant fees that you paid,” says West. “So if you paid 20 percent in fees, and you lost $10,000, it’s nice to get $2,000 of that back.” 

Ask the payment platform you used for reimbursement. Did you send money to a criminal using Zelle? If so, you might be able to recoup your losses. Since 2023, the peer-to-peer (P2P) payment service has investigated and recovered money lost to criminals. Among the requirements for Zelle to begin an investigation: the perpetrator must have impersonated a government agency, a financial institution or a service provider (such as a utility company) and you must report the fraud within 120 days of its occurrence. Report the crime to the bank or credit union where you have your Zelle account. Also report it to Zelle online.  

PayPal has an online security center where you can report fraud or unauthorized activity, and Venmo suggests contacting its support team if you used its service to pay a scammer. The companies are often unable to cancel payments to criminals, but you should still report the fraud. 

Seek gift card reimbursement. Criminals often want you to pay them with gift cards. If that happens, you might be able to recover all or some of the money by reporting the fraud to the gift card company. The FTC maintains a list of popular gift card companies and how to contact them; if you still have the card (many victims provide the card number to scammers by phone or text), look for a 1-800 number on the back. The Retail Gift Card Association suggests that customers tell the company that the card was used in a scam and provide a receipt or the card number. 

“Once you report a gift card scam to the gift card company, ask for your money back,” the FTC recommends. “If the money was frozen or not downloaded by the scammer, some gift card companies will give the money back.” In addition to possibly reimbursing victims, some companies will flag fraudulent transactions and freeze stolen gift card money so criminals can’t access it, the FTC states.

Beware of recovery scams. Many fraud victims are retargeted in recovery scams where criminals pose as someone from law enforcement, a consumer advocacy organization, a law firm or a government agency and charge fees for phony recovery services.

“If you’ve been scammed once, you are now on a list, and they will come for you again,” West says.

Ignore the offers, Abramson advises: “Anyone who promises they can get your money back for a fee is almost always running a second scam.”

The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.