Sometimes—but there is no guaranteed refund. If you sent money to someone you now believe was a romance scammer, stop contact and contact the provider that handled each payment immediately. Explain that you paid because of a scam and ask whether it can stop, reverse, or refund the transaction. Your options depend on how the money was sent, whether the payment is still in progress, and whether you or someone else initiated it.
This guidance covers U.S. federal resources. Payment rights and reporting processes can differ in other countries.
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What to do first
- Stop sending money and end contact. Do not send more funds, even if the person claims another payment is needed to release a package, pay a fee, or solve an emergency.
- Contact the payment provider now. Call the bank, credit union, app, wire service, card issuer, gift-card issuer, exchange, or ATM operator used for each payment. Say plainly that you were deceived in a romance scam and ask whether it can stop, reverse, or refund the payment. The FTC recommends contacting the company promptly, but quick action does not guarantee recovery: What To Do if You Were Scammed.
- Preserve the records. Keep transaction confirmations, receipts, messages, dates, payment details, wallet addresses, and any case or report numbers. For a gift card, retain both the card and receipt while contacting its issuer.
- Report the scam. Submit a report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and notify the dating app, social network, or other platform where the contact began. Reporting can help authorities identify patterns, but a report by itself does not return the money. The FTC’s guidance is at What To Know About Romance Scams.
- Secure accounts if needed. If the person obtained passwords, account access, or other sensitive information, contact the affected financial institution and secure the relevant accounts. The appropriate steps depend on what was shared.
Who to contact for each payment method
Contact every provider involved in a payment chain. For example, if a payment app drew money from a linked card or bank account, notify the app and the linked card issuer or bank.
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| How you sent the money | Who to contact and what to ask | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer or Zelle | Call your bank or credit union, report the scam, and ask it to reverse the payment and refund the money. | This is the FTC’s recommended first step; it does not mean recovery is guaranteed. See FTC recovery guidance. |
| Payment app, such as Venmo, Cash App, or PayPal | Report the transaction to the app immediately and ask whether it can reverse or refund it. If the app used a linked card or bank account, contact that provider too. | The outcome may depend on provider terms and transaction details. See FTC recovery guidance. |
| Wire transfer | Contact the wire company or sending bank right away, explain the fraud, and ask for a reversal and refund. | The FTC specifically recommends contacting the wire company or bank. See FTC recovery guidance. |
| Gift card | Call the issuer using the number on the card. Explain that a scammer obtained the card number and PIN and ask about a refund. | Keep the card and receipt. See FTC recovery guidance. |
| Credit or debit card | Contact the card issuer or bank immediately, explain that the payment was connected to a scam, and ask about a refund or dispute. | A payment you personally authorized after being deceived is not automatically the same as unauthorized card use. The FTC advises asking the provider, but the cited guidance does not promise a refund. See romance-scam guidance and recovery guidance. |
| Cryptocurrency | Contact the exchange or crypto ATM operator immediately, report the fraudulent transaction, and ask whether it can reverse or refund it. | Crypto payments lack the same legal protections as credit and debit card payments and can be hard to recover, though you should still ask the provider. See FTC recovery guidance. |
Was the transfer unauthorized, or did you send it yourself?
Be precise when describing what happened. Under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s general description, an “unauthorized electronic fund transfer” is an electronic transfer from a consumer account initiated by someone other than the consumer, without actual authority, and from which the consumer receives no benefit. Regulation E provides error-resolution rules and protections related to unauthorized transfers. See the CFPB’s definition of unauthorized EFT and Regulation E error-resolution rule.
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If you personally initiated a transfer because the scammer lied to you, that is not automatically the same situation as a stranger using stolen credentials to initiate a transfer. Tell the bank exactly who initiated the payment and what happened, and ask it to investigate. The label “scam” alone does not determine the outcome of a particular claim.
Watch out for fake recovery offers
After a loss, a second scammer may claim they can recover the money. The FTC warns against anyone demanding an upfront fee, personal information, or financial-account details in exchange for a refund or recovery. Government agencies and legitimate organizations do not charge people to help obtain a refund or guarantee that money will be returned. Do not pay a supposed recovery agent. See the FTC’s refund and recovery scam guidance.
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What recovery can and cannot be promised
There is no single recovery rule that covers every payment method or transaction. Providers may have more options while a payment is still pending or before funds are forwarded, so prompt contact matters; the FTC’s guidance does not quantify recovery rates or guarantee success. The cited official sources also do not establish a romance-scam-specific loss figure suitable for estimating an individual victim’s chance of getting money back.
For context only, the FTC reported $12.5 billion in total fraud losses in 2024, including $2 billion reported lost through bank transfers or payments and $1.4 billion through cryptocurrency. Those figures cover all reported fraud, not romance scams specifically, and cannot be used to predict recovery in an individual case. See the FTC’s 2024 fraud data.
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