If you have lost money to an investment scam, stop sending payments and contact your bank or payment provider immediately. Do not wait for the investment company to explain a blocked withdrawal, or pay another fee to release your money.
The immediate priorities are to protect what remains, preserve evidence and report what happened. Recovery is not guaranteed, but the payment method, payment dates and conduct of the firms involved can affect your options. This guide covers the UK reporting and complaints routes.
Contact your bank before assembling a complete report
Call the fraud team using the number on your bank card, a statement or your banking app. Do not use a number supplied by the suspected scammer. If you disclosed account details or your PIN, tell the bank so it can protect your account. The Citizens Advice steps after a scam also cover exposed financial information and monitoring for further misuse.
Be direct about what happened. You could say:
I believe I have been deceived into paying a fraudulent investment scheme. Please record this as a suspected scam, check whether any pending payments can be stopped, attempt to recover the transfers and assess my reimbursement options. I also need help securing my account.
Give the payment dates, amounts and recipient details you already have. Ask for a case reference and written confirmation of the next steps. If you paid through several banks or payment services, contact each one. For a pension transfer that may still be pending, contact the pension provider urgently too.
Explain accurately which payments you approved and which you did not. Include any instructions to mislead the bank about the payment’s purpose. Do not rewrite events to make the claim sound stronger: record what you believed at the time, what the scammer told you and what changed your mind.
Ask the bank to consider both recovering the transferred funds and reimbursing your loss. Keep these as separate requests rather than assuming that an unsuccessful transfer recall ends the matter.
Secure your accounts and devices
If the scammer had remote access to your computer or phone, disconnect the affected device from the internet. Use another trusted device to contact your bank and secure your accounts. Tell the bank about the remote access, even if you are unsure what the person could see.
Change compromised passwords and any passwords reused elsewhere, starting with your email account. Check email forwarding rules, sign out unfamiliar sessions and enable two-step verification. The NCSC’s hacked-account recovery instructions cover these checks and what to do when account access has been lost.
Arrange a trustworthy device check before using the affected device for banking again. Do not accept technical help from someone introduced by the investment contact.
Record any identity documents you supplied, including passport copies, driving licences and proof of address. Monitor statements and credit records for activity you do not recognise. Keep passwords, security codes and cryptocurrency recovery phrases out of your evidence bundle; investigators need transaction information, not access to your accounts.
Build an evidence file without delaying the bank call
Save material you already hold before blocking the scammer. Keep original emails and documents as well as screenshots. Do not reopen suspicious attachments or reconnect to an unsafe platform just to collect more evidence.
| Record | What to retain |
|---|---|
| Payments | Statements, receipts, payment references, recipient account details and any money returned to you. |
| Cryptocurrency transfers | Transaction hashes, wallet addresses, the network used and exchange transaction records. |
| Communications | Emails, exported chats, telephone numbers, usernames, voice messages and notes of calls. |
| Investment claims | Advertisements, contracts, promised returns, account screenshots and withdrawal conditions. |
| Claimed identity | Company names, website addresses, claimed regulatory numbers and names used by representatives. |
Write a short chronology: first contact, each payment, any withdrawal received, the first failed withdrawal and the point when you suspected fraud. Mark estimates as estimates rather than filling gaps with guesses.
Separate money actually paid from figures displayed on the platform. In a hypothetical case, someone deposits £8,000, receives £300 back and sees an account balance of £25,000. The cash outflow after that return is £7,700. Record the displayed balance as evidence of the representations made, not as proof that £25,000 existed.
If the scheme claimed to represent an authorised business, record the contact details you used. Our guide to clone firms and fake investment websites covers the distinction between a genuine firm and someone borrowing its identity. Avoid accusing the genuine business without establishing who received your money.
Report the scam through the correct UK channels
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, use the Report Fraud crime-reporting service, or call 0300 123 2040. Choose the route for reporting a crime involving money lost, rather than only reporting a suspicious message. If you live in Scotland, or the crime happened there, contact Police Scotland on 101. Call 999 if there is an immediate emergency or danger.
Save the crime reference and give it to your bank. Keep your bank claim moving while the crime report is assessed; do not treat the police report as a substitute for requesting reimbursement.
Report the investment offer separately through the FCA’s investment scam reporting route. Include the website address, claimed firm identity and evidence of what was offered. The FCA uses reports to examine suspected wrongdoing and help protect others, but this reporting service does not recover your money for you.
Keep a contact log showing the organisation, date, reference number, documents supplied and promised next step. When new evidence arrives, add it to the existing case where possible rather than submitting conflicting versions.
Check the recovery route for the way you paid
“Investment scam” describes the deception, not the payment mechanism. A bank transfer, card payment and cryptocurrency transfer can require different approaches. Give your provider the complete payment trail, including intermediate accounts.
UK bank transfers
Mandatory authorised push payment, or APP, reimbursement rules cover qualifying scam payments made on or after 7 October 2024 through Faster Payments or CHAPS between relevant UK accounts. The mandatory maximum is £85,000 per claim, and a provider may apply an excess of up to £100. Report promptly: claims can be refused if submitted more than 13 months after the final payment in the claim.
Eligible claims should normally be reimbursed within five business days. Permitted information-gathering pauses can extend the process, but the claim must be closed within 35 business days. Exceptions include fraudulent claims and gross negligence under the consumer standard of caution. Gross negligence is a high threshold, not simply making a mistake. That exception and the excess must not apply where the customer was vulnerable to the scam. These conditions are set out in the PSR’s consolidated APP reimbursement policy.
Tell the provider about circumstances that affected your ability to recognise or resist the deception. Explain their effect rather than supplying a label alone.
Older payments, overseas transfers and cryptocurrency
The mandatory rules do not automatically cover overseas transfers or money sent to your own cryptocurrency account before being transferred to a fraudster. Payments before 7 October 2024 fall outside those rules, although earlier reimbursement arrangements may apply. Being outside the mandatory scheme does not necessarily end your complaint: the Financial Ombudsman’s approach to scam-payment complaints includes examining whether a bank should have prevented the loss or done more to recover it.
For cryptocurrency, contact the genuine exchange or payment service involved and provide transaction identifiers. Ask whether it can flag the destination, preserve records or take any recovery action. Do not describe a transfer as recoverable simply because its movement can be traced.
Debit and credit cards
Ask your card issuer promptly whether chargeback is available and, for a qualifying credit transaction, whether Section 75 applies. Neither is an automatic refund for an investment loss. Ask the issuer to assess what you bought, who supplied it and what went wrong. MoneyHelper’s card-protection guidance distinguishes chargeback from Section 75 and explains the claim process.
Identify the merchant shown on the statement, not just the investment platform’s trading name. Explain any payment processor or exchange between your card and the eventual recipient. Ask the issuer to confirm the applicable deadline rather than waiting for the supposed investment company to respond.
Challenge a refusal through a formal complaint
If your provider refuses reimbursement, ask for its reasons in writing. Check whether it has understood the payment route, dates and deception correctly. A claim described as an ordinary investment loss may need a clearer explanation of the false representations, rather than a longer account of how much money disappeared.
Make a formal complaint identifying the decision you dispute and the outcome you want. Attach a concise chronology and the strongest supporting documents. Our guide to complaining about a broker or investment firm covers structuring a complaint and keeping an escalation record.
Do not assume every complaint has the same response deadline. Ask the provider which timetable applies and record when it received your complaint. You can generally approach the Financial Ombudsman after a final response or when the applicable response period has expired. You normally have six months from the date of the final response to refer the complaint, subject to exceptions in the Ombudsman’s complaint time limits.
Distinguish the complaint from the original reimbursement claim in your records. Keep both reference numbers, and do not assume an ongoing police enquiry extends either deadline.
Do not assume FSCS protection covers the loss
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is not a general refund service for scams. Eligibility normally requires a failed authorised firm, a regulated activity, a financial loss and a legal liability owed to you. The FSCS compensation eligibility rules set out these conditions. A fraudster displaying a regulator’s logo does not establish that an eligible firm owes you compensation.
If an authorised adviser or provider was involved, identify its actual role and whether it is still operating. Keep advice letters and agreements alongside the scam evidence. Our separate guide to what FSCS protection covers explains the boundaries without confusing compensation for firm failure with a bank reimbursement claim.
Watch for a second scam offering to recover the first loss
Treat unsolicited recovery offers with particular caution. Warning signs include claims that your money has already been located, demands for an advance “tax” or administration payment, and pressure to act before a supposed deadline. The FCA’s recovery-room scam warning describes how fraudsters target people who have already lost money, sometimes using details obtained from the original scam.
Knowing your loss amount or the name of the fraudulent platform is not enough to verify a caller. End the conversation and independently contact the organisation they claim to represent.
Do not send money, grant remote access or disclose wallet recovery phrases to prove ownership of a claim. Avoid posting unredacted bank statements, identity documents or your full case file on social media.
If you are considering paid legal help, independently verify the adviser and obtain written terms. Ask what work will be done, what you will pay if nothing is recovered, and why that route is appropriate for your case.
Protect your remaining finances while the case progresses
Make a short budget based only on money you currently control. Do not include an expected refund until it arrives. If the loss threatens rent, mortgage payments or household bills, contact the relevant providers early and ask about support.
Consider asking someone you trust to help organise documents and attend calls with your permission. You do not need to handle every conversation alone.
Resist the pressure to replace the loss through another investment or more borrowing. For now, the useful work is administrative: secure accounts, submit evidence, answer verified requests and track deadlines. The next payment should not be another attempt to rescue the last one.