First Response
How to report online fraud and preserve useful evidence
Reporting online fraud is more effective when urgent containment happens alongside careful evidence preservation. The aim is not to investigate everything yourself, but to give the relevant organizations accurate identifiers, a clear chronology and original records they can act on.
Protect funds and accounts first
Contact the relevant bank, payment provider or cryptocurrency platform through a verified channel. Ask for the matter to be escalated as suspected fraud, record the case reference and secure affected email, financial and platform accounts from a known-clean device.
- Change compromised credentials
- Enable multi-factor authentication
- Review forwarding rules and active sessions
- Record each provider reference number
Preserve original records
Keep complete messages, emails with headers, account exports, statements, transaction receipts and original files. Screenshots help explain what was visible, but should supplement rather than replace source records and platform exports.
Create a concise incident chronology
List the significant events in time order: first contact, representations made, account access, each payment, attempted withdrawals and subsequent demands. Use exact dates, time zones and transaction identifiers where available, and distinguish known facts from assumptions.
Report through verified channels
Provide banks, platforms and relevant authorities with a focused summary and copies of the most useful records. Reporting routes differ by country and provider, so confirm contact details independently and retain a copy of every submission and acknowledgement.
- Sender and recipient account details
- Wallet addresses and transaction hashes
- Domains, profile names and telephone numbers
- Dates, amounts, currencies and payment references
Avoid recovery follow-on fraud
Fraud victims are frequently contacted by people claiming they can guarantee recovery for an advance fee. Do not provide identity documents, wallet credentials or further payments until the organization, legal entity and proposed process have been independently verified.