Act quickly, but do not engage with the scammer. Do not reply to an unexpected loan text, click its link, or call the number it provides. Report the message through your phone’s junk-reporting feature or by forwarding it to 7726 (SPAM), then file a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If you shared personal information, a lender opened an account in your name, or money left your account, contact each affected company through an independently verified channel, use IdentityTheft.gov, and protect your credit with a freeze or fraud alert.
The right response depends on what happened. The steps below separate a suspicious message from identity theft, a fraudulent loan account, and a payment that may still be stoppable.
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Start with the right response for your situation
| What happened | Do this first | Then do this |
|---|---|---|
| You received an unexpected loan text or email but shared nothing | Do not reply, click, or call the sender. Delete it and report it as junk or forward it to 7726 (SPAM). | Report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and verify any claimed lender independently. |
| You gave the sender your Social Security number, bank details, login, or other personal information | Contact the affected financial institution or company through an official number or website and secure the account. | Use IdentityTheft.gov, freeze your credit with all three bureaus, and review your credit reports. |
| A loan or account was opened without your permission | Call the company’s fraud department and request a freeze or closure. | File an identity-theft report, dispute the account with both the credit bureau and the company that furnished it, and keep every record. |
| You sent money to the scammer | Immediately contact the bank, card issuer, wire service, payment app, or other provider using its official contact channel. | Ask what reversal or recall is possible, preserve transaction details, and report the scam. |
If the contact was only a suspicious loan message
Do not test the message
Unexpected loan messages often say you are preapproved, claim that an application is already in progress, or ask for a Social Security number or bank-account number to finish an application. A message saying you only need to reply to claim a loan can be a phishing attempt. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) gives the illustrative example of a person receiving a text about a supposed $10,000 loan application despite never applying. That dollar amount is an example of a message, not a measured scam statistic.
Do not reply “STOP” unless you are using a built-in carrier reporting function that specifically instructs you to do so. Do not click an unsubscribe link, open an attachment, call a number in the message, or use a link to “verify” your identity. Any response can confirm that your number is active and can lead to more convincing follow-up calls or texts.
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Report and remove the message
- Use your phone’s report-junk or report-spam option, if available.
- Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM), the short code used for unwanted mobile messages.
- Delete the original message after preserving a screenshot or other record that shows the sender, date, claimed lender, link, and request.
- Submit a report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Include what the message said and whether you clicked, replied, shared information, or paid.
Reporting helps regulators identify patterns, but it does not close an account, remove a credit-report entry, or guarantee reimbursement. Those outcomes require direct action with the affected company and, when relevant, the credit bureaus.
Check a lender without using the message
If you are unsure whether an offer is genuine, find the lender’s website and telephone number independently. Do not rely on the link, number, email address, or caller ID supplied by the sender. The FTC recommends checking whether a lender is registered in the state where it does business and contacting your state attorney general or banking or financial-services regulator when registration is in question.
For a future offer, search the company name and phone number with terms such as “review,” “complaint,” or “scam.” A clean search result does not prove that a lender is legitimate: scammers can impersonate real companies and create convincing web pages.
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If you exposed personal or financial information
Secure the affected accounts
Call each affected company’s fraud department using contact information from a statement, the company’s independently located website, or a card already in your possession. Tell the representative that your information was exposed in a suspected loan scam. Ask the company to close or freeze the compromised account, identify any unauthorized activity, and explain its documentation requirements.
Change passwords and PINs for the affected accounts and for any other account that reused the same credentials. Use unique passwords, and do not share a verification code with anyone who contacts you unexpectedly. If your email account was exposed, secure it first because control of email can allow a scammer to reset other logins.
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Create an identity-theft report and recovery plan
Go to IdentityTheft.gov and provide the details requested about what happened. The FTC service creates an Identity Theft Report and a personalized recovery plan. Save or print the report, checklist, and any confirmation number. A report at the FTC’s general fraud site is useful for enforcement, but the identity-theft service is the route designed to organize your personal recovery steps.
Place a credit freeze
A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report for new-credit applications while it remains active. The FTC says freezes are free to place and lift, but you must place one separately with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Record the credentials or PIN each bureau gives you so you can temporarily lift a freeze when you apply for legitimate credit.
A freeze does not close an existing fraudulent account, remove an inaccurate entry, or stop withdrawals from a bank account. It is a barrier against many new-credit applications, so pair it with account-specific fraud work and report review.
Add an initial fraud alert if you want an extra verification step
An initial fraud alert is free for one year. Contact any one of the three nationwide credit bureaus; that bureau must notify the other two. The alert asks businesses to check with you before opening new credit. You can use a fraud alert and a credit freeze at the same time. A fraud alert is not a substitute for a freeze when you want to restrict routine access to your reports.
Inspect your credit reports for a loan you did not request
Order reports from all three bureaus through AnnualCreditReport.com, the authorized site identified by the FTC. The FTC says reports from each bureau are available weekly for free; availability and ordering procedures can change, so use the official site rather than a lookalike “free report” page.
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Review the personal-information, account, inquiry, and collections sections. Look for:
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- A new hard inquiry from a lender or broker you never contacted.
- An unfamiliar address, employer, telephone number, or name variation.
- Late payments or collection accounts tied to a loan you never opened.
- Balances or payment histories that do not match your legitimate accounts.
Download or print each report before disputing anything. Mark the exact company name, account number (showing only the last four digits in your notes), date opened, balance, and bureau on which it appears. Check all three reports because an account may appear on one, two, or all three.
Dispute a fraudulent loan with both parties
Do not rely on an FTC report alone to remove a debt. The FTC’s dispute guidance says to contact both the credit bureau reporting the inaccurate information and the business that supplied it. Send a clear explanation that you did not open or authorize the account, identify the entry precisely, and request its correction or deletion.
Submit the disputes
- Use the bureau’s official dispute process for each report containing the fraudulent loan.
- Send a separate dispute to the lender, servicer, or other business that furnished the account information.
- Include copies, not originals, of your Identity Theft Report, government identification, proof of address, and relevant account or police documents if requested. Follow each recipient’s instructions for secure submission.
- State the remedy you want: removal of the account and related inquiries or collection entries, or correction of specific inaccurate fields.
- Keep the submission date, confirmation or report number, uploaded documents, and every letter or email.
After the investigation period described by the recipient, obtain fresh reports and confirm that the fraudulent entry was removed or accurately marked as disputed. If an entry remains inaccurate, follow up with both the bureau and the furnishing company, referencing your prior dispute and supplying any additional documentation requested.
Use a simple dispute description
Your letter or online form should be factual and specific. Identify the account, explain that you did not apply for or authorize it, describe when you learned about it, and list the documents attached. Avoid speculating about the scammer’s identity or adding unrelated complaints that could obscure the account-level error.
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If money was sent to the scammer
Contact the provider immediately through a number or website you locate independently. Tell it the payment resulted from a scam and ask whether it can stop, recall, freeze, or reverse the transaction. The available remedy depends on the payment method, timing, and provider’s rules; recovery is not assured.
- Bank transfer or debit transaction: ask the bank to investigate and, where possible, block or reverse the transaction.
- Credit or debit card: contact the issuer promptly and ask about disputing the charge and replacing the card.
- Wire transfer: contact the wire company and your bank immediately to request a recall.
- Payment app: report the transaction in the app and contact the linked bank or card issuer.
- Cryptocurrency, gift card, or cash: contact the provider, but recognize that these methods are often difficult to reverse.
Save the receipt, transaction ID, destination account or wallet information, dates, amounts, and every message. Do not send an additional “release fee,” “tax,” or “verification payment” to recover the first payment; that is a common continuation of an advance-fee scam.
Recognize advance-fee and follow-up loan scams
An advance-fee demand means the person promises approval or guaranteed funding only after you pay an upfront charge. A legitimate lender may disclose fees under its normal terms, but a demand that you pay first to guarantee a loan is a serious warning sign. The FTC directs people who have information about or losses from advance-fee loan schemes to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Common warning signs include:
- An unexpected “preapproved” offer or a claim that an application is already underway.
- Pressure to act immediately or threats that an offer will disappear.
- Requests for a Social Security number, bank details, login credentials, or verification codes in response to an unsolicited message.
- Payment demands by cryptocurrency, wire, gift card, or payment app.
- Instructions to use only the phone number, website, or link supplied by the contact.
- Promises of guaranteed approval regardless of credit history.
Do not provide personal or financial information in response to an unexpected request. If a message might be genuine, end the conversation and contact the company through independently verified details.
What each reporting route can and cannot do
| Route | Purpose | What it will not do by itself |
|---|---|---|
| ReportFraud.ftc.gov | Records scams and advance-fee loan schemes so the FTC can investigate, build cases, and identify trends. | It does not resolve your individual account, remove a credit entry, or guarantee repayment. |
| IdentityTheft.gov | Creates an Identity Theft Report and a personalized recovery plan after personal information is misused. | It does not replace contacting the lender, bank, credit bureau, or payment provider. |
| Phone junk reporting or 7726 (SPAM) | Reports an unwanted mobile text to your carrier or messaging ecosystem. | It does not investigate an opened account or recover money already sent. |
| State attorney general or financial regulator | Helps you check possible lender-registration or licensing issues in your state. | It does not substitute for a credit dispute or account-fraud request. |
FTC attorney Rosario Mendez explains the broader value of reporting: Every time you file a report with the Federal Trade Commission you are helping us build cases, stop scammers, and also alert others about the current trends.
Reporting is worthwhile even when the FTC cannot resolve your individual loss, but use the lender, credit bureaus, and financial institutions for personal remedies.
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Keep an evidence file
Make one folder—digital or paper—for the incident. Include:
- Screenshots or copies of the original text, email, caller ID, and web address.
- A timeline showing when you were contacted, what you disclosed, and what actions you took.
- Bank, card, wire, payment-app, or cryptocurrency transaction records.
- Credit reports highlighting the unfamiliar account or inquiry.
- Identity Theft Report documents and FTC confirmation numbers.
- Dispute letters, online submission receipts, correspondence, and call dates.
- Names or identification numbers of representatives who handled your case.
Redact full Social Security numbers, complete account numbers, passwords, and security answers before storing or sharing copies unless an official recipient specifically requires them through a secure process.
Choose ongoing credit protection realistically
| Option | What it does | Limits and costs to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Credit freeze | Restricts access to a bureau’s report for new-credit applications while active. | Free, but setup is separate at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You must lift it when a legitimate creditor needs access. |
| Initial fraud alert | Asks businesses to verify your identity before granting new credit. | Free for one year; contact one bureau and it notifies the other two. It is less restrictive than a freeze. |
| Free credit reports | Lets you inspect all three reports for unfamiliar loans, inquiries, and personal data. | Order through AnnualCreditReport.com. A report review does not monitor bank withdrawals or tax-refund theft. |
| Paid credit monitoring | May alert you to selected changes, such as a new loan or inquiry. | Coverage may include one, two, or all three bureaus; compare alert timing, report-access limits, fees, and recovery support. Monitoring does not detect every type of identity theft. |
| Paid identity-recovery assistance | May help prepare letters or communicate with creditors. | Many core steps are available free through the FTC, your creditors, and the bureaus. A paid service is optional, not a prerequisite for recovery. |
The FTC notes that credit monitoring will not alert you to every problem, including bank-account withdrawals or tax-refund theft. Even if you buy monitoring, continue checking statements and tax-related accounts and use the free report process.
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Once a scammer knows you responded, another person may call pretending to be a bank employee, investigator, regulator, or “recovery specialist.” Treat unexpected recovery offers as untrusted. Do not pay for an investigation, certificate, release code, insurance charge, or government fee demanded by a new contact.
Use independently sourced contact details for every institution. Caller ID can be spoofed, and a familiar logo or partial personal detail does not authenticate the caller. If you are unsure, hang up and call the number on your statement or the institution’s official website.
Safeguard paper records containing account or identity information. The FTC recommends shredding sensitive documents before disposal; a cross-cut shredder can reduce the chance that discarded statements or applications will be reconstructed. This prevention step is separate from reporting a scam and does not replace a freeze, dispute, or account closure.
When to escalate your follow-up
Escalate promptly if a lender continues collecting on an account you reported as identity theft, a bureau fails to correct information that remains inaccurate, or new accounts appear after you placed protections. Keep your written requests and confirmation numbers so each new contact can see the history. Ask the company what additional identity-theft documents it requires and submit them through its secure channel.
If you are facing collection activity, do not ignore letters or court documents. Tell the collector in writing that the debt resulted from identity theft, provide the documentation requested, and obtain advice from a qualified consumer-law or legal-aid provider about deadlines in your state. The FTC reporting system is not a substitute for responding to a legal notice.
Quick Recap
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