What happens after you report a scam, and how money actually gets back to victims

You report a scam and receive a confirmation. Then, usually, nothing. This post sets out what the main agencies say happens in that silence, what they say they do not do, how money does reach some victims, and why the report is still worth making. It is an explainer, not legal advice.

The short version

Reporting systems in the US, UK, Canada and Australia are built to collect intelligence and pass it to agencies that can act. None of the sources we read describes a process that investigates every report or recovers each person’s loss. Money gets back to victims through a few separate, slower routes, described below.

United States: the FTC

A report to ReportFraud.ftc.gov goes into Consumer Sentinel, a database the FTC says is free to any federal, state or local law enforcement agency and available to select international authorities. An FTC reply on its consumer advice site says a report is available to more than 3,000 federal, state and local law enforcers, and that the agency uses reports to investigate, bring cases and warn people.

It is also direct about the limit: “The FTC does not handle individual cases for people.” It adds that sometimes people do get money back because of an FTC case, and that law enforcement agencies generally do not share information about active investigations. For 2024 the FTC reported 2.6 million fraud reports and $12.5 billion in reported losses, and called the reports the starting point for many of its investigations.

United States: the FBI’s IC3

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center says analysts review complaints and forward them to law enforcement and partner agencies as appropriate. Its FAQ is plain about the rest: IC3 does not conduct investigations and cannot give a status update, “you will not hear from the IC3,” and the FBI cannot respond to every complaint. Investigation and prosecution are at the discretion of the receiving agencies. IC3 does not collect evidence, so you should keep the original documents in case an agency asks.

IC3 reports 1,008,597 complaints and $20.877 billion in losses for 2025.

The one place IC3 describes active help with money is its Recovery Asset Team. The team streamlines communication with financial institutions to help freeze funds. In 2025, it reports, the process covered 3,900 incidents involving $1,163,919,846 in attempted theft and froze $679,013,183, a 58% success rate. Frozen funds are not the same as funds returned, and the report does not say how much of the frozen money reached victims. The report advises contacting your bank immediately and filing a complaint whatever the amount. Our post on wire recall covers the first hours.

The UK, Canada and Australia

• UK. The government’s Stop! Think Fraud campaign says reports go to the Report Fraud Analysis Services, run by the police, which analyses intelligence and passes details to local forces. It is the responsibility of police forces to decide whether to open an investigation. It also says your bank can stop payments and deals with requests to claim your money back. See the UK page.
• Canada. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says it is the role of local police to investigate, and that the CAFC keeps a central repository of information to assist. Its stated reasons to report include that information could link crimes together in Canada and abroad. See the Canada page.
• Australia. Scamwatch says reports help identify the most harmful scams and are shared with Australian and international law enforcement. The National Anti-Scam Centre’s 2025 report says reports without a loss still hold intelligence value, and records more than 8,400 website addresses referred for takedown, with 89.6% removed. See the Australia page.

No source gives the share of reports that lead to an investigation, charge or recovery. They describe roles, not rates. For where to report, see the US page as well.

How money does reach victims

FTC refunds. The FTC’s process starts only after a case is final and the defendants have paid what the court ordered. Its Office of Claims and Refunds then develops a plan. The FTC returned $337.3 million to consumers in 2024, through administrators; consumers do not pay for this, and leftover or too-small amounts may go to the US Treasury. This is not comparable to the $12.5 billion reported lost: refunds come only from finished enforcement cases, which can be years old, and the FTC’s cases cover illegal business practices more broadly than fraud.

A small example shows the pace. In January 2025 the FTC sent checks of $251.36 each, over $49,000 in total, to 198 consumers harmed by a mortgage relief scheme it had sued in 2015. Recipients did not have to act or pay. Our case page has the context.

DOJ remission. When the Justice Department forfeits assets from a crime, it can return them to victims. It says it has returned more than $13 billion in forfeited assets since 2000, through remission or restoration, where forfeited funds go to a court to pay restitution. An older DOJ brochure describes the mechanics: known victims are notified by mail, unknown victims by publication, and each must document a specific loss. When money runs short it is generally shared pro rata, so if forfeited funds cover half of everyone’s losses each victim receives half, after forfeiture costs are deducted. The brochure is dated, so treat this as the general shape.

Your bank or card provider. How this works depends on how you paid. See how the way you paid decides whether you get money back. The UK government page says banks deal with requests to claim money back.

Beware the fake refund

Both the FTC and DOJ warn that scammers pose as these programs. The FTC says it will never threaten you, say you must transfer money to “get a refund,” or promise you a prize. DOJ says that it and its administrators will never ask for payment to take part in remission, that genuine contact comes from an administrator or officials you have already dealt with, and that a request for a fee is fraud. Our post on the victims’ fund message follows that con, and the recovery scam page covers the paid version.

Why reporting still matters

It will probably not get your money back, and no source we read says it will. The sources do give reasons to report anyway.

• It feeds cases. The FTC calls reports the starting point for many investigations, and the CAFC says reports can link crimes across borders.
• Speed can matter. IC3 says that when a transfer is fraudulent, time is of the essence, and asks for complaints to be filed as quickly as possible.
• It enables takedowns and warnings. The National Anti-Scam Centre counts takedowns, and says reports without loss add to intelligence.
• Some money does come back through cases. The FTC says people sometimes get money back because of an FTC case. Underreporting also hides how big the problem is; see our glossary entry.

What we could not verify

We could not read the UK’s Report Fraud pages directly, so the UK description relies on the government campaign page. We found no figure for how much frozen money reaches victims. The DOJ brochure is older than the other sources.