Protect your property
If you've been a victim of cybercrime, it's important to take reasonable steps to protect your property, such as your accounts, digital assets like photos, and financial accounts, from other cybercriminals and scammers.
- 1
Did you lose money? Call your bank
If you lost money in an incident, it's important to contact the financial service or institution the money was sent to or from as soon as possible. The sooner you report it, the more likely you are to get your money back. This includes your bank, payment services like PayPal or Venmo, or cryptocurrency exchanges.
- 2
Be wary of recovery scams
People who contact you on social media or through phone, email, or text claiming they can help you recover your money are almost always scammers themselves. Don't trust anyone claiming to help you recover your money, especially if they require up-front fees. Recovery scams are common, and people who have already lost money are exactly who they look for.
- 3
Secure your accounts
During a cybercrime incident, it's possible the cybercriminals compromised your accounts without you realizing it. If you have an incident, it's important to re-secure the accounts that were involved.
For example, if you had contact with the cybercriminal on Instagram, you should re-secure your Instagram account. If it was over email, you should secure your email account.
To secure your account, do these things:
- aChange your password to a unique (a password you don't use anywhere else), long, and complex password. Use a password manager like Google's or Apple's built-in password manager to create and save these passwords.
- bEnable multi-factor authentication on the account. This means that when accessing the account, you'll also get a confirmation email, text message, or a code from an authenticator app.
- cSet up passkeys if they're available on the account. Passkeys are the most secure way to protect your accounts.
Accounts you should consider securing after an incident:
- dYour email account.
- eYour Google or Apple account (if different from your email account).
- fYour financial accounts (banks, payment apps, etc.).
- gSocial media accounts.
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