How to report a scam website: US, UK, Germany, EU, Canada and Australia

Reporting a scam website feels like shouting into the void, but it isn't. Reports are how fraud teams connect cases, how browsers learn to block phishing pages, how hosting companies find out what's on their servers and how the next potential victim gets a warning. If you've lost money, a report is also often something your bank will ask for.

This guide explains what to report, where to report it in the US, UK, Germany and the wider EU, Canada and Australia, and how to get a site taken down or flagged so other people are protected.

Before you report: collect the basics

Every report is more useful with clear facts. Gather:

• The full web address of the site, copied from the address bar
• Screenshots of the pages that show the scam (product pages, checkout, fake login, messages)
• How you found it: ad, search result, text message, e-mail, social media
• What happened, in a short timeline with dates
• Payment details if you paid: amount, method, date, the recipient's account or wallet
• Contact details the scammer used: e-mail addresses, phone numbers, usernames

You don't need to have lost money to report. Reporting a site you spotted before anything happened is just as useful.

If you lost money, start with your bank

Reporting to the authorities won't stop a payment. Call your bank or card provider first, using the number on your card, and follow our guides What to do if you've been scammed online and How to get your money back. Then report.

United States

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC): report fraud, scams and bad business practices at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The FTC shares reports with law enforcement.
• FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): report internet crime, especially if you lost money, at ic3.gov.
• Phishing e-mails: forward them to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at [email protected].
• Scam texts: forward them to 7726 (SPAM) on most US carriers.
• Your state attorney general's consumer protection office also accepts complaints about businesses.
• Mail and parcel scams: report to the US Postal Inspection Service.

United Kingdom

• Action Fraud: the national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, at actionfraud.police.uk. If you see a new reporting service mentioned on that site, follow its directions.
• Scotland: report to Police Scotland by calling 101.
• Suspicious e-mails: forward to the National Cyber Security Centre at [email protected].
• Scam texts: forward to 7726, free on UK networks.
• Scam websites: the NCSC also runs an online form for reporting scam websites, so they can be investigated and taken down.
• Scam adverts: the Advertising Standards Authority accepts reports of scam ads in paid online advertising.
• Consumer advice: Citizens Advice can help you work out your rights and passes information to Trading Standards.

Germany

• Police: you can file a report (Strafanzeige) at any police station or online through the Onlinewache (internet police station) of your federal state. Search for "Onlinewache" plus the name of your state, and make sure you land on an official police site.
• Verbraucherzentrale: the consumer advice centres help with fake shops and phishing. Their Fakeshop-Finder helps you check online shops, and the Phishing-Radar collects and publishes phishing e-mails.
• BSI: the Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik) publishes advice for consumers on phishing, fake shops and IT security.
• Your bank: German banks will usually ask for a police report reference when you dispute a fraudulent payment.

Other EU countries

• Police: report to your national police; most EU countries now accept online reports for internet fraud.
• European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net): if you bought from a trader in another EU country (or Iceland or Norway), the European Consumer Centre in your country gives free help with the cross-border dispute.
• National cybersecurity centres in many EU countries run their own services for reporting phishing and malicious websites. Search for your country's national cybersecurity agency.

Canada

• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC): report fraud and scams online at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or by phone. The CAFC works with police and collects intelligence on scams.
• Local police: especially if you lost money or were targeted in person.
• Scam texts: forward to 7726 on major Canadian carriers.

Australia

• Scamwatch: run by the National Anti-Scam Centre, at scamwatch.gov.au. Reports help warn the public and disrupt scams.
• ReportCyber: the Australian Cyber Security Centre's service for reporting cybercrime, including online fraud where you lost money.
• Your bank and, if your identity documents were involved, IDCARE, a not-for-profit identity and cyber support service.

Report the website itself

Reports to the authorities are important, but they rarely get a site offline quickly. These steps do more to protect the next visitor:

Browsers and search engines

• Google Safe Browsing has a form to report phishing pages. Once a page is confirmed, Chrome, Firefox and Safari can show a warning.
• Microsoft lets you report unsafe sites, which feeds the warnings shown in Edge and Windows.
• Search ads: if you found the site through an ad, use the ad platform's "report ad" option.

Social networks and marketplaces

If you saw the site in a social media ad or post, use the "report" option on the ad or post. Platforms act faster on reports that say clearly what the scam is: "fake shop, takes payment, no goods delivered".

The hosting company and the domain company

Every website runs on a hosting company's computers, and its address was bought through a domain company (called a registrar). Both usually have a contact for abuse reports:

• ICANN, the organisation that coordinates website addresses, has a free lookup tool at lookup.icann.org. Enter the address and look for the registrar and its abuse contact e-mail address.
• The websurely.com report for the site shows who the address is registered with, which tells you where to send your complaint.
• Write a short, factual message: the domain, what the scam is, links to your evidence, and a polite request for action.

The brand being impersonated

If the site pretends to be a bank, a shop or a delivery company, tell the real company. Most have a dedicated address or form for reporting phishing and fake sites, and they have strong reasons to get them taken down.

Report it on websurely.com

Report the website on websurely.com. It takes two minutes:

• Paste the address, pick a category (fake online store, phishing, crypto or investment scam, brand impersonation and so on) and describe briefly what happened. Stick to facts and don't include other people's personal data.
• You need a free account to report. That keeps reports honest. No e-mail address is required.
• Every report triggers a fresh scan of the site. Once a moderator confirms the report, it raises the site's Scam Score, so everyone who checks the site later sees the warning.
• Recent reports are listed publicly, and confirmed scam sites appear in our latest scam websites list.

If you run a website and believe it has been reported unfairly, you can request a free manual review. A person checks the report and your evidence.

What happens next

Most reports won't get an individual reply, and that's normal. Fraud agencies use them to spot patterns, link cases and decide where to investigate. Takedown requests to hosting and domain companies can work within days. Browser warnings can appear within hours once a page is confirmed.

If you want to know more about how to judge a site before anything goes wrong, read How to check if a website is legit. For the bigger picture, our statistics page gives an overview of the websites visitors check on websurely.com.

Check a website now

Want to know whether a site is already known? Check it on websurely.com. You'll see its Scam Score, whether security databases list it and what other visitors reported, in seconds.