How Do I Report Internet Scams/Fraud?

Many victims of internet-based scams and fraud attempts don't report it because they're either ashamed of falling for a scam or they think there's so much of it going on that it's pointless to do anything about it. But, reporting internet fraud and scams helps other people from becoming victims. Here's how to notify the authorities.

Here are some resources you can use to report internet-based crimes and fraud.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (ICCC) is a partnership between the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations and the National White Collar Crime Center. The ICCC is a good place to report online extortion, identity theft, hacking, economic espionage, and other major cybercrimes.

If the crime committed against you doesn't fall into these categories, but you feel the crime is serious enough to report, report it to the ICCC. If it doesn't fall under one of their categories, they may be able to direct you to an agency that does handle it.

The Better Business Bureau of the U.S. and Canada can help you make complaints against internet-based retailers and other businesses. You can also search their database to see if a merchant has other complaints against them and whether they've been resolved or not.

The FBI has an online tips form you can use to report potential cases of internet fraud, including data breaches, denial of service attacks, malware, phishing, and ransomware. The site will link you to the appropriate agency that handles crime reporting for each specific type of crime.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has an online complaint assistant for consumers who want to report fraudulent activity. Choose from a few complaint categories, including impostor scams, robocalls, pyramid schemes, and much more. Then, answer a few related questions and tell the FTC what happened. Reporting these cases to the FTC helps it recognize patterns of fraud and abuse.

The eBay Security Center helps report auction-related fraud or scams to the proper authorities. You can tell it if you think your account has been hacked and report receiving a fake email. If you are the victim of property theft, the security center provides a way for law enforcement to find out if someone is trying to auction your stolen merchandise.