Someone offers to get my money back

Money lost to a scam comes back, when it comes back at all, through your bank, the payment company, or a government case. None of them asks you to pay anyone else first. Anyone who wants a fee up front to get it back is running a second scam, including people who say they’re from the FBI, the FTC, a law firm, or IC3 (the FBI’s online crime report site).

If it’s happening now

Someone is offering to get your money back. Hang up, or stop replying. Who they say they are doesn’t change it. Screenshot the messages, with their name, number, or username, before you block anyone.

They say they’re the FBI or the police. Ask for their name and office, and hang up. Then look up that office’s number yourself and call it. For the FBI, start at the FBI field offices page. For police, use the department’s website. Real agents do call victims when they need more for a case. They don’t charge you.

They say they’re IC3. They aren’t. IC3 doesn’t call, email, or message people, and it has no social media.

They say they’re the FTC. The FTC does send real refunds, and they cost nothing. It has no “agents,” a photo of a badge proves nothing, and it doesn’t contact people by text or WhatsApp. Check any refund at ftc.gov/refunds, typed in yourself.

They want a fee, a “tax,” your bank account number, a photo of your ID, or your crypto wallet’s recovery words (the words that restore it) before the money is “released.” That’s the scam. Don’t send any of it.

A refund check came for more than you lost, and they want the difference back. Don’t deposit it. The FTC says that’s always a scam: the check is fake, and your bank wants back whatever you sent.

They’re on your computer. Hold the power button until it shuts off, then use another device. Someone is on the line or on my screen right now.

What to say

• Give me your name and your office. I'll look up the number myself and call you back.

• I paid someone who said they'd recover money I lost to a scam. That was another scam. I need to report it as fraud and stop or reverse the payment. Can I get a case number?

• A scammer has my account number. I need the account watched or closed, and anything they try stopped. Can I get a case number?

If something already left your hands

You paid a fee

Stop replying, and don’t pay a second fee. They ask for more.

Call your bank or the payment company now, at the number on your card or inside its app. Say it was a scam, ask them to stop or reverse the payment, and get a case number. How you paid decides what’s possible: I paid or sent money.

If you sent it yourself, they may treat it as authorized, and often they say no. Ask for a recall or reversal anyway, and for the decision in writing. If it’s no, file a complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint.

Paid by credit card? Ask to dispute it as a service you never got. The dispute has to reach the card company in writing within 60 days of the statement that first showed the charge. Card steps.

Then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov. Type the address in yourself: fake IC3 sites show up in search results and ads. If it went by wire or crypto, file with IC3 at the same time as you call the bank. Already filed about the first scam? File a new complaint that says it adds to the earlier one.

You filed your IC3 report on a site you didn’t type in yourself

If the form asked only for your name, phone, email, kind of scam, and how much you lost, then promised someone would be in touch, it was a fake. File again at ic3.gov, typed in yourself. Don’t answer anyone who contacts you about the first one.

You gave them your bank account number, Social Security number, or a photo of your ID

Bank account number. Call your bank at the number on your card. Tell them a scammer has your account number, and ask whether to close the account and open a new one.

Social Security number or a photo of your ID. Freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. It’s free. Steps: I gave out a code, password, or card number.

You let them onto your computer, or gave them your wallet’s recovery words

Computer. Keep it off. From another device, call your bank at the number on your card and tell them someone was on your computer. Then change your bank and email passwords. I let someone control my computer.

Recovery words. Whoever has them can empty that wallet. Move what’s left to a new wallet, from a device they never touched. I paid with crypto or a Bitcoin ATM.

After the calls

Keep the messages, the payment receipts, and any letters or “case documents” they sent. Save evidence without spiraling.

If you’re 60 or older, or helping someone who is, the National Elder Fraud Hotline assigns a case manager to help with the reports. Scammers pose as hotline staff, so use the number below, not one someone gave you. The real hotline doesn’t threaten to sue you or ask for money.

What it looks like

Three weeks after you filed an IC3 complaint about losing $14,200 to a fake crypto trading site, this email arrives.

Complaint I2608-2741-0093: Recovered funds approved for release

I

IC3 Recovery Asset Team <[email protected]>

To: me

Oct 2, 8:03 AM

Dear Complainant,

Following an audit of complaints filed with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, the FBI Recovery Asset Team has seized funds traced to your loss of $14,200.00 on August 27, 2026. The funds are held in a secured federal escrow account and are approved for disbursement.

Before release, a one-time processing and compliance fee of $640.00 is required. By law, recovered funds cannot be used to pay this fee.

To complete verification, reply with a photo of your government-issued ID and the bank account where the funds should be deposited. Your assigned case officer, Special Agent Mark Ellison, will then send payment instructions.

Do not discuss this case with your bank while the release is pending. It may flag the deposit and delay your funds.

Funds not claimed within 10 business days are returned to the U.S. Treasury.

Internet Crime Complaint Center
Federal Bureau of Investigation

It has your exact loss and the date. What do you do?

• Pay the $640. It's small next to $14,200
• Send the ID and bank details, but not the fee
• Call your local FBI field office, at the number on fbi.gov, and ask
• Don't reply. File a new complaint at ic3.gov, typed in yourself, and paste this email into it

Show the answers

• Wrong move Pay the $640. It's small next to $14,200 IC3 never asks for payment to recover money. The FTC says that if you pay a recovery fee, you'll lose more money.
• Wrong move Send the ID and bank details, but not the fee IC3 doesn't send refunds, and the FTC doesn't ask for your bank account to send one. The FTC says that if you give out account information, your money can disappear and your identity can be stolen.
• Okay Call your local FBI field office, at the number on fbi.gov, and ask Safe. You can skip the call, though: IC3 says it never emails people about their complaints.
• Best move Don't reply. File a new complaint at ic3.gov, typed in yourself, and paste this email into it IC3 doesn't email people about complaints and never charges to recover money. Your loss and date are easy to get: the people who took it know them, and fake IC3 sites collect them.

Knowing your exact loss proves nothing. IC3 doesn't email you, and nobody real charges a fee to send money back.

You posted in a Facebook group for scam victims that you lost $31,000 to a fake trading site. A member messages you.

Facebook Messenger Linda Haskell

Today 7:48 PM

Hi, I saw your post in the group. I'm so sorry. I lost $48,000 to a trading platform last year.

I got almost all of it back through the IC3 recovery unit. They work with the exchanges to freeze the wallets.

The director on my case was Raymond Kessler. He's on Telegram, @IC3_RKessler. Tell him Linda sent you.

Did you have to pay anything?

Nothing up front. They only took their percentage after the money was in my account.

I know how it sounds. I didn't believe it either.

She lost money too, and there's nothing to pay up front. What do you do?

• Message Kessler on Telegram. You'll only pay once the money's back
• Ask Linda for a screenshot of her refund first
• Call the FBI and ask whether a Raymond Kessler works there
• Stop replying and report her profile to Facebook

Show the answers

• Wrong move Message Kessler on Telegram. You'll only pay once the money's back The FBI describes this exact setup: fake profiles posing as victims join these groups and send people to an "IC3 director" on Telegram, who says he's recovered their money and then goes after their financial information. IC3 has no social media and doesn't message anyone.
• Wrong move Ask Linda for a screenshot of her refund first If her profile is fake, so is the screenshot, and it takes a minute to make. Asking keeps you talking to her.
• Okay Call the FBI and ask whether a Raymond Kessler works there Safe, but it doesn't settle anything. A real name can be borrowed, and IC3 doesn't contact victims or send them to anyone who charges.
• Best move Stop replying and report her profile to Facebook IC3 never contacts people through social media or apps, and the FBI asks people to report fake accounts to the platform. If the FBI needs more from you, it says a local field office or other law enforcement will contact you.

A group member who sends you to a recovery contact is how this version starts. IC3 doesn't work through Telegram or any social media.

In 2024 you paid $349 to a tech support company after a pop-up said your computer was infected. Today this email arrives.

Your refund from the FTC's case against Tarrowfield PC Support

F

Federal Trade Commission

Oct 2, 9:15 AM

You're receiving this email because records show you paid Tarrowfield PC Support for computer repair services.

The FTC sued Tarrowfield for using fake virus warnings to sell tech support. The FTC is now sending refunds to people who lost money.

You will get your payment through PayPal. Watch for an email from PayPal. You'll need to redeem the payment within 30 days.

You don't need to pay anything or give any financial information to get this refund.

Questions? Call the refund administrator at 1-833-555-0162.

You never asked for a refund. What do you do?

• Delete it. Nobody sends money back without being asked
• Wait for PayPal's email and tap the link in it
• Call the number in the email to check
• Type ftc.gov/refunds into your browser and look for the case

Show the answers

• Wrong move Delete it. Nobody sends money back without being asked The FTC does. In most of its cases you don't file a claim: the company it sued hands over its customer list, and refunds go out by check, prepaid card, PayPal, or Zelle. A real refund you ignore can expire: in the FTC's Avast case, PayPal recipients were told to redeem within 30 days.
• Wrong move Wait for PayPal's email and tap the link in it The FTC says not to click links in emails that seem to be from the FTC or PayPal. Type the address into your browser and sign in yourself.
• Okay Call the number in the email to check Only if it matches the number listed for this case at ftc.gov/refunds. If the email is fake, the number in it reaches the scammer. Look the number up there instead.
• Best move Type ftc.gov/refunds into your browser and look for the case The FTC lists its active refund programs there, with the company sending payments and a phone number. If this one is listed, redeem the payment by signing in at paypal.com yourself, not through a link in an email.

Real refunds exist, and they can arrive without you asking. The FTC's cost nothing and don't need your bank account, and its programs are listed at ftc.gov/refunds.

What they’ll ask for

Each of these is the scam. The move doesn’t change: stop replying, and deal with your bank, the payment company, and the police yourself.

“Your funds have been recovered. Pay the processing fee to release them.” It may be called a retainer, a tax, an administrative charge, or a shipping fee. The FTC says anyone who contacts you and asks for an upfront fee is a scammer.

“No fee until you get paid.” Next comes a “tax” or “release fee” before the money moves, or a request for your bank details. Either one is the scam.

“Send your bank account number so we can deposit your refund.” FTC refunds go out by check, prepaid card, PayPal, or Zelle. The FTC never asks for your bank account or Social Security number to send one.

“Message me on Telegram,” or “Use this link to update your IC3 report.” IC3 doesn’t work through Telegram or any other social media, and doesn’t send links. To add to a report, file a new complaint at ic3.gov, typed in yourself.

“We can trace and recover your crypto.” Same scam when you found them in an ad, a search result, or a comment online. The FBI says private recovery companies can’t issue seizure orders to recover cryptocurrency, and the fake ones keep asking for more fees.

“Our law firm traced your crypto. Join the WhatsApp group with your attorney and the bank processor.” The FBI describes fake law firms that use real firms’ letterheads, know the exact amounts and dates of your losses, and want payment in crypto or gift cards. It says no law firm is an officially authorized partner of a U.S. government agency.

“Your money is at a foreign bank. Open an account on this site to get it.” The FBI says these sites are fake, set up to keep taking money.

“I can get your name to the top of the list for reimbursement.” The FTC lists this exact pitch as a recovery scam.

“We have your case file.” Scammers buy, sell, and trade lists of people who’ve lost money, with how much and how. Knowing your details proves nothing.

Where real refunds come from

Your bank or the payment company. Reversals, recalls, and disputes go through them: I paid or sent money.

Government cases. When the FTC or the Justice Department gets money back from a scammer, victims can be paid, and neither asks for a fee. FTC programs are listed at ftc.gov/refunds, with the company sending payments and its phone number. Justice Department cases are at justice.gov/criminal/criminal-mnf/remission.

A lawyer you find yourself. Not one who found you.