Last updated · first published · reviewed by the Smart Money Verified Team
How to Report Financial Scams
If you've been targeted by fraud, reporting helps protect others and may aid recovery. Here's where and how to report.
Why Reporting Matters
Reporting fraud helps authorities track patterns, investigate organized crime, and potentially recover funds. Even if you can't recover your money, your report may prevent others from becoming victims. The more reports agencies receive, the higher priority investigations become.
Where should you report a scam?
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Primary consumer protection agency. Tracks fraud patterns nationwide.
https://reportfraud.ftc.govFBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
For internet-related fraud, including crypto scams and online investment fraud.
https://ic3.govSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
For investment fraud, unregistered securities, and broker misconduct.
https://sec.gov/tcrFINRA
For complaints about brokers and brokerage firms.
https://finra.org/investors/have-problemCFTC
For commodity and forex fraud, including crypto derivatives.
https://cftc.gov/complaintState Attorney General
Your state AG handles local consumer protection and fraud.
What information should you gather?
- All communications (emails, texts, chat messages)
- Screenshots of websites, profiles, and ads
- Transaction records (bank statements, crypto wallet addresses)
- Phone numbers and contact information used
- Names, usernames, and company names mentioned
- Dates and timeline of events
- Amount of money lost and payment methods used
How do you report to the SEC, step by step?
The SEC takes reports about unregistered offerings, misleading claims, Ponzi schemes, and misconduct by advisers or brokers through its Tips, Complaints and Referrals (TCR) form.
- 1
Open the TCR form
Go to sec.gov/tcr. There is no fee and no account required. You can save a partly finished form and come back to it.
- 2
Choose the complaint type
Pick the option that matches what happened — for example a problem with an adviser or broker, or a suspicious offering.
- 3
Name who you are reporting
Give the exact company or person name, plus their CRD number if you have one, website, phone number, and any email addresses used.
- 4
Describe it in plain order
Write what happened by date: how they contacted you, what they promised, how much you sent, and how you sent it. Attach screenshots and statements.
- 5
Decide about anonymity
You may file anonymously, but leaving contact details lets SEC staff follow up with questions, which usually helps the case.
- 6
Save your submission number
The confirmation number is your reference for any later correspondence with the SEC.
How do you report a broker to FINRA, step by step?
FINRA handles complaints about brokers and brokerage firms through its Investor Complaint Center. Use it when a licensed person mishandled your account, traded without permission, or misrepresented a product.
- 1
Check the record first
Look the person up before you file so you can reference their CRD number and current firm accurately.
- 2
Complain to the firm in writing
Send the brokerage a dated written complaint and keep a copy. Firms are required to log complaints, and this creates a paper trail.
- 3
File with FINRA
Use the Investor Complaint Center at finra.org. Include account numbers, dates, trades in question, and what you were told versus what happened.
- 4
Attach the documents
Account statements, confirmations, emails, and text messages carry far more weight than recollection alone.
- 5
Note the money at stake
State the amount involved and whether you have already asked the firm for a remedy.
What happens after you file?
You will get an acknowledgement, usually straight away for online forms. After that, regulators rarely give updates on an open matter, and they will not act as your lawyer or collect money on your behalf.
Reports are pooled. A single complaint may sit quietly while several about the same firm move it up the queue — which is exactly why filing matters even when your own loss feels small.
Filing is always free. No agency will ask you to pay a fee, buy a gift card, or send crypto to release recovered funds.
Watch for the second scam
People who have already lost money get targeted again by “recovery” operations that claim they can get it back for an upfront fee. Lists of victims circulate, so the approach often arrives soon after a loss.
How recovery scams work →What to do next
File with the regulators above, then check any firm involved in public records so your report carries names and registration details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Protect Your Investments
Download our free Investor Protection Guide with actionable steps to verify companies and avoid scams.
How do you check a company or person right now?
Use the free check on this site. Enter the name and it searches the official registers for you in one step, then shows you what those records say — registration status and anything reported against them. Every answer names the official source behind it, so you can confirm it yourself if you want to.
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Who writes these guides
Written and reviewed by the Smart Money Verified Team. We build every guide from primary regulator material, we take no payment from any company we write about, and we say plainly when public records cannot answer a question. Our guides are education, not financial advice.
Primary sources we work from
How we check things: our methodology · disclosures