Stop! Think Fraud > How to report

Whether you’ve seen something suspicious or been a victim of fraud, you should always report it.

Providing details of what happened will help the police crackdown on the fraudsters and could prevent the same thing happening to others.

Report to Action Fraud
Action Fraud is the reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you’ve been scammed, defrauded or experienced cyber crime, report it to Action Fraud online at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.

Report to Police Scotland
In Scotland, all reports of fraud and any other financial crime should be reported to Police Scotland by calling 101.

Tell your bank
If you’ve lost money or you think a fraudster has access to your bank account, tell your bank or payment service provider as soon as possible, so they can protect your account and help you get your money back.

Tell other relevant organisations
You should also contact any other relevant organisation to let them know what happened and ask it to be investigated, for example:

• An organisation whose name was falsely used in the fraud such as an energy provider or Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
• The platform where it occurred (such as Facebook or Google)

If you’ve seen or received a suspicious email, phone call, message, social media advert or website, but you haven’t lost money or responded to it, here’s how to report it:

• Suspicious emails can be forwarded to report@phishing.gov.uk
• Report suspicious text messages or phone calls free of charge to 7726.
• Report a phone call by simply sending a text to 7726 with the word ‘Call’ followed by the scam caller’s number.
• Report fake adverts to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) at: https://www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint/report-an-online-scam-ad.html
• Report suspicious websites to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC): https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/about-this-website/report-scam-website It’s free of charge and only takes a minute.
• If you’ve received something suspicious in the post, you can contact Royal Mail, who deal with postal fraud. You can complete a report form on the Royal Mail website https://www.royalmail.com/reportingscammail or call them free on 0800 011 3466 (message service only)