DateableWhat to do in the first hour after you pay a scammer
Call your bank or payment provider first, then stop contact, save the evidence and report. Gift cards, crypto and shared passwords each need one more step.
Call your bank or the payment provider first, then stop contact, save the evidence, and report. Speed matters: the sooner your bank knows, the better its chance of stopping a payment that has not gone through and blocking access to your accounts.
Call your bank or payment provider first
The moment you realise you have sent money to a scammer, call your bank or payment provider. Do not send another message to the scammer. Do not check their profile again. Call the bank. Use the number on the back of your card or in your banking app, not one the scammer gave you. You do not need the whole story yet.
Scamwatch's advice is to contact your bank straight away 1. The bank may not get the money back, but it can block access to compromised accounts 2. Call now, even at night: your banking app or website lists the number for reporting fraud.
Have these ready: the name and account details (BSB and account number) you paid, the amount, and the date and time of each payment.
I've just realised I sent money to a scammer. I need to report fraud. Can you try to stop the payment and secure my accounts?
Stop contact with the scammer
Stop replying to the scammer immediately. Do not explain why you are leaving, do not tell them you know they are a scammer, and do not ask them to return the money. Each message gives them another chance to manipulate you, build sympathy, or ask you to send more money to fix the problem they created. Expect a story: a delay, an emergency, a fee that will "release" your money.
Save everything before you block them. Take screenshots of all the messages, the profile itself, and any photos they sent you. Note every payment: where it went, the amount, the date and the method. Do not delete anything. You will need it when you report.
Once you have saved everything, block the profile on the dating app and anywhere else they contacted you. Do not unblock them. Do not reply if they contact you from a different account. Block that too.
If you paid with a gift card
Call the company that issued the gift card straight away, and keep the card and the receipt 3. The company may be able to freeze a balance the scammer has not spent yet. Tell them when and where you bought it, the amount, and when you gave the code away.
If someone you met online asks to be paid in gift cards again, that alone tells you it is a scam: no real business or government agency asks to be paid that way 3.
If you sent cryptocurrency
Recovering crypto losses is unlikely 4. Report it anyway. A common version starts on a dating profile, moves to WhatsApp, and ends on an investment platform that lets you put in a little, then more, and locks you out when you try to withdraw 4. If that is what happened, stop paying now: any "fee" or "tax" to unlock your balance is more of the same scam.
Call your bank about the transfers you made to buy the crypto, and write down the transaction IDs, amounts, dates and wallet addresses for your report. Then contact IDCARE and report to Scamwatch and ReportCyber 4. The guide to what to do if something goes wrong covers the next days.
Secure your other accounts
If you told the scammer any passwords, security answers or bank details, or sent a photo of your ID, act now: scammers who get into your accounts can change the passwords and lock you out 5.
Change your email password first, because your email can reset every other account. Then your bank, then everything that shares a password with either. Use a password manager to make strong, different passwords.
Turn on multi-factor authentication for your email and bank 5. If your phone suddenly loses signal or your provider contacts you about your number, call them at once: scammers port numbers to intercept bank codes 5.
Report the scam and ignore recovery offers
Report the profile to Dateable, and to any other platform where they contacted you. Then report to Scamwatch 1. Your report helps warn others.
Contact IDCARE for identity and scam support. It is free and not-for-profit, and helps people in Australia and New Zealand 6. Call 1800 595 160, Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm AEST.
Expect messages from people who say they can recover your money for a fee. Some pose as lawyers, police or government officials. They are scammers too, and you will not get your money back from them 7. Block them and deal only with your bank.
The guide to reporting and blocking covers how to block the scammer everywhere they can reach you.
Sources
- Scamwatch (ACCC) (2026). Relationship scams.
- WA ScamNet (Government of Western Australia, Consumer Protection) (2026). Sugar baby scam.
- Federal Trade Commission (2023). Avoiding and Reporting Gift Card Scams.
- Scamwatch (ACCC) (2026). Investment scams.
- Scamwatch (ACCC) (2026). Account or identity takeover scams.
- IDCARE (2026). IDCARE.
- Scamwatch (ACCC) (2026). Money recovery scams.
