Reporting a Scam to IC3, the FTC, and the CFPB
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Sourced from primary statutes (U.S. Code, CFR, state compiled statutes) and official government agency guidance. Written in plain language for general understanding — this is educational content, not legal advice. Our editorial standards
What is this right?
There is no single federal scam hotline in the United States. There are three federal channels and one state channel, and each one feeds a different downstream consequence. IC3 is run by the FBI for cyber-enabled fraud and is the route to the Recovery Asset Team. The FTC's ReportFraud portal feeds the Consumer Sentinel database that over 2,000 law-enforcement partners read. The CFPB's complaint portal forwards your complaint directly to the bank, card issuer, or credit bureau and tracks the response — that paper trail materially changes how the firm handles the case. Your state attorney general adds the local-prosecution and state-UDAP-law layer.
Filing in all three is normal. They do different work and the time cost is small relative to the downstream leverage each adds.
When does it apply?
- Any cyber-enabled scam — phishing, business email compromise, romance scam, investment scam, tech-support scam, ransomware: IC3.
- Any deceptive-practice complaint — fake offers, robocalls, identity theft, scam product, imposter scam: FTC ReportFraud.
- Any complaint against a bank, credit-union, card issuer, debt collector, money transmitter, credit-reporting agency, mortgage servicer, or fintech: CFPB.
- Your state attorney general handles in-state actors and state-law claims (often broader than federal UDAP — most state UDAP laws allow private rights of action).
Filing the Right Federal Scam Reports
File all three federal reports the same day. Each takes 10–20 minutes and they all use the same one-page timeline from the first-24-hours work.
- IC3 first if money has actually moved. Go to ic3.gov, click File a Complaint. Provide: your contact info, the financial details (amount, sending bank, receiving bank, beneficiary name, account / routing or wire reference numbers), the channel (email, phone, social media, dating app), and the timeline. The Recovery Asset Team triages by amount and recency.
- FTC ReportFraud next. Go to reportfraud.ftc.gov. The FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network shares the report with over 2,000 law-enforcement partners. You can also call the Consumer Response Center at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). For identity theft specifically, IdentityTheft.gov generates a personalized recovery plan and an Identity Theft Report you can use to extend fraud alerts to 7 years.
- CFPB if your complaint is against a regulated financial firm. Go to consumerfinance.gov/complaint. The CFPB sends the complaint to the company, gives the company 15 days to respond and 60 days to provide a final response, and publishes the resolution in the public complaint database. The forwarding-and-tracking is the lever — companies treat CFPB complaints differently because the response is on the record.
- State attorney general for in-state actors. Search '[your state] attorney general consumer complaint' — every state has a portal. Useful for state-UDAP claims, deceptive-practice prosecutions, and follow-up the federal channels skip.
- Cross-reference your reports. Each portal generates a confirmation number. Add them to your timeline document. When you escalate later — to your bank's fraud-team supervisor, to a private FCBA / Reg E lawsuit — you cite the IC3 / FTC / CFPB case numbers as evidence of contemporaneous reporting.
What should you NOT do?
- Don't expect a personal investigator. Reports go into databases. The reports build cases against repeat scammers and feed enforcement actions; they rarely produce an individual case officer working your file. The Recovery Asset Team is the closest thing to a direct-action federal response, and it works only on time-sensitive wires/ACH.
- Don't post the scam details on social media before filing. Scammers' lawyers and the scammers themselves monitor victim posts. The official channels are the leverage; public posts are just venting.
- Don't ignore the CFPB just because the bank says they're 'investigating.' The CFPB complaint runs in parallel and changes the timeline — banks often resolve cases faster when the CFPB has the file.
Common Questions
Which federal portal is the most important?
It depends on what you want done. IC3 is the route to the FBI Recovery Asset Team — best for time-sensitive wires and ACH. CFPB is the route to a tracked response from your bank or card issuer — best for forcing resolution of a refund dispute. FTC feeds the Consumer Sentinel database — best for building federal cases against repeat scammers. File all three; they cost nothing and they do different work.
Does the FBI actually call victims?
Only in specific large or high-priority cases. The vast majority of IC3 reports feed pattern analysis and the Recovery Asset Team's funds-freeze work, not individual investigations. Be skeptical of any unsolicited 'FBI' call about your case — that is itself a common scam pattern.
What does the CFPB actually do with my complaint?
The CFPB forwards your complaint to the company, gives them 15 days to respond and 60 days to provide a final response, and publishes the company's response category in the public complaint database. The forwarding is automated; the tracking is what changes how the company handles the case.
Should I report to my local police too?
Yes, for the case number — many credit bureaus and merchants require a police report to extend a fraud alert beyond 1 year or to fully restore credit. Local police rarely investigate cyber-enabled scams themselves, so view it as documentation rather than investigation.
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