Urgent protection comes before intelligence
A reporting form cannot freeze a bank account, recover a password or make a dangerous situation safe.
Protection, evidence and public rules
Where do I report a scam text, email, advert or website?
Reporting a scam text, email, advert or website has two purposes: protecting you after an action or loss, and sending intelligence to the organisation able to investigate, block or remove the contact or content. One incident may need more than one report.
Page P-028Guidance pageReviewed 29 August 2026
Key Guidance
If money, account access or personal safety is at risk, contact the bank, service provider or police first. Then use the route that matches the item: suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk, SMS to 7726, suspicious websites to the NCSC, adverts to the platform and ASA, and fraud or cyber crime to Report Fraud or Police Scotland.
Start with Key Guidance for the short answer. Then read the sections that match what happened and what you need to do.
Guided route 3
I need to report what happened, recover or help someone
Current position: Step 2 of 5 — Make the right reports. Read the guides in the order shown.
Understand the issue
Why this matters to you
A network can block a sender, a platform can remove an account, a bank can protect money and police can record crime. Sending every issue to one place can miss the urgent owner.
The content owner can act on the item
Email, mobile, website, advert and social-platform systems each hold different evidence and removal controls.
Crime reporting depends on jurisdiction
Report Fraud covers England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, report fraud to Police Scotland on 101.
One report does not automatically reach everyone
A platform report may remove content without creating a police report. A bank report may protect money without removing the original advert.
Consequences and movement
What may happen next
Choose the first route by harm, then add the content and crime reports that fit the incident.
Money or banking exposed
Contact the bank or payment provider at once through a trusted route before completing general reports.
Account or device exposed
Use the genuine account provider or trusted technical guidance to contain access before reporting the message or site.
Suspicious content only
Use the email, mobile, website, advert or platform route without continuing the contact.
Crime, threat or loss
Report through the appropriate police route and preserve the evidence and reference numbers.
Practical response
What you should do
Do not wait for every screenshot or document before protecting money or access. Preserve what is available, then report in a useful order.
- Protect the immediate assetContact the bank, account provider, employer or emergency service first where money, access, work systems or safety may still be at risk.
- Report the communicationForward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and suspicious SMS or call details to 7726. Use the app’s own block and report controls for messaging and social accounts.
- Report the destinationSend suspicious website addresses to the NCSC. Report false adverts to the platform and the Advertising Standards Authority.
- Report the crimeUse Report Fraud for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, contact Police Scotland on 101. Call 999 for immediate danger or a crime in progress.
- Preserve identifiersKeep the sender, username, profile link, advert, URL, date, amount, payment route, transaction reference and any platform or bank report number.
- Keep expectations realisticA report may support blocking, intelligence or investigation without producing an individual update or immediate recovery.
Look more closely
Report each component to the service able to act
A scam may involve a phone network, messaging service, advert platform, website host and payment provider. Separate reports give each organisation the evidence it can use to remove content, protect an account or investigate a transaction.
Report the email, SMS, call or app account.
Report the impersonated profile, advert or organisation claim.
Report the website, download or payment instruction.
Contact the bank, card provider, exchange or issuer at once.
Link the separate reports with dates, identifiers and references.
Selected history
Historical cases and lasting lessons
Suspicious Email Reporting Service and 7726
The NCSC receives forwarded suspicious emails, while mobile providers use 7726 reports to investigate suspicious SMS and calls.
Lasting lesson: Reporting the communication can support blocking and takedown even when no money was lost.
Report Fraud
Report Fraud is the police reporting service for cyber crime and fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with Scotland using Police Scotland.
Lasting lesson: A crime report and a platform or content report serve different purposes and may both be needed.
Transferable understanding
Patterns over time
The first report should match the urgent harm
Banking, account and safety intervention lose value if delayed by a general reporting form.
Scam infrastructure spans organisations
A single incident may use a mobile number, social account, advert, domain, payment provider and recipient account.
Removal is not recovery
Taking down a page protects others but does not automatically return money or restore an account.
Reference numbers connect fragmented evidence
Keeping provider, platform and police references makes later complaints and updates easier to organise.
Plain-language answers
Common questions
Should I report if I did not lose money?
Yes. A suspicious-content report can help networks, platforms and the NCSC investigate and disrupt the route.
Is forwarding an email the same as reporting a crime?
No. Forwarding helps investigate phishing infrastructure. Report actual fraud, loss or cyber crime through the appropriate police route as well.
Where do I report a WhatsApp or Telegram message?
Use the app’s block and report control. If the message is part of fraud or cyber crime, also use the appropriate police reporting route.
What if I am in immediate danger?
Call 999. Do not wait for a platform, NCSC or online fraud report to be reviewed.
Protect first, then report the route and the crime
Use the organisation able to stop the immediate harm, then report the communication, destination and incident through the current UK routes that match what happened.
Scamology Insights
A scam report is a map of owners
These learning resources can separate the communication, identity, route, action and loss so that each part reaches the organisation able to act on it. Links are intentionally withheld in this production version.
Guided route 3 · Step 2 of 5
Continue your route
The next guide follows directly from this one.
Continue understanding
Explore related guidance
Evidence and currency