I sent money by gift card or crypto. Can I get it back?

It is hard, but report it immediately anyway - speed is your best chance. For gift cards, contact the card issuer (the brand on the card) right away and ask them to freeze the funds; some can if the card has not been drained. For crypto or wire transfers, contact the exchange or your bank at once. Then file with the FTC and IC3. Do not pay anyone who promises to recover your money for a fee - that is a second scam.

I gave them my Social Security number. What do I do?

Place a free credit freeze with all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion), which blocks new accounts being opened in your name, and go to IdentityTheft.gov for a personalized recovery plan. Watch your credit and consider a free fraud alert. A freeze is free, reversible, and the single most effective step.

Should I file a police report?

It can help, especially if you lost money or your identity was used - a report number is useful when disputing fraudulent charges or accounts with banks and bureaus. File with the FTC and the FBI's IC3 first, since those are the central fraud-reporting channels, then add a local police report if a bank or creditor asks for one.

Someone offered to recover my lost money for a fee. Is that legitimate?

No. That is a recovery scam that targets people who were already scammed. No legitimate service guarantees to get your money back for an upfront fee, and government agencies never charge to help. Treat any such offer - especially one that found you after the first scam - as a second attempt to take from you.

I gave a scammer my information - what now?

First, breathe. Being scammed is not a failure of intelligence; these operations are professional and engineered to fool careful people. What matters now is acting in the right order. Do not waste energy on blame - spend it on these steps, starting at the top.

Step 1: Stop the bleeding

Cut all contact with the scammer. Do not reply, do not explain, do not "give them a chance to fix it."
Send no more money. If they are pressuring you to pay again to "unlock," "release," or "recover" funds, that is the scam continuing. More money will not bring the first amount back.
Do not move money they sent you. If you received a check or transfer, do not spend or forward any of it - it will likely reverse. See the fake-check answer.

Step 2: Lock down your money

Call your bank or card issuer now using the number on the back of your card. Report the fraud, dispute any charges or transfers, and ask whether they can stop or reverse a recent payment.
If you sent a gift card, contact the issuing brand immediately (Amazon, Apple, Google Play, and so on) and ask them to freeze the funds. Keep the card and receipt.
If you sent crypto or a wire, contact the exchange or your bank at once. Recovery is unlikely but speed gives you the only real chance.

Step 3: Lock down your identity (if you shared personal data)

If you shared your Social Security number, place a free credit freeze with all three bureaus. A freeze blocks new accounts in your name and is free and reversible:
Equifax, Experian, TransUnion.
Go to IdentityTheft.gov, the FTC's official identity-theft service, for a step-by-step recovery plan tailored to what was exposed.
Change passwords for any account whose login you reused or revealed, and turn on two-factor authentication.

Step 4: Report it

Reporting will not always recover your money, but it feeds the data that disrupts these operations and protects the next person.

FTC: reportfraud.ftc.gov - the central US fraud-report channel.
FBI IC3: ic3.gov - for internet-enabled crime, including job and crypto scams.
The real company impersonated: tell their HR or security team. It helps them warn others and shut down the fake accounts.
The platform where it started (LinkedIn, Indeed, a chat app) so they can remove the account.
BBB Scam Tracker: bbb.org/scamtracker - public reporting that warns your community.

Watch for the second scam. People who were just scammed are targeted by "recovery" services that promise to retrieve the lost money for a fee. No legitimate service does this, and no government agency charges to help. If someone contacts you offering to get your money back, it is another scam.

Step 5: Going forward

Keep an eye on your bank and credit accounts for a few months, and consider keeping the credit freeze in place - it is free and you can lift it anytime you need to apply for credit. When you are ready to job-hunt again, the complete guide to spotting a job scam and the free checker will help you vet the next offer before it gets this far. What happened to you is common and survivable, and you now know the patterns better than most.