How do I report a scam text, email or website?

Reporting feels pointless because nobody replies. It is not: these reports are how numbers get blocked, fake sites get taken down, and patterns get spotted. It takes under two minutes and costs nothing.

Step by step

1. Forward scam text messages to 7726.It spells SPAM on a keypad and is free on every UK network. Forward the message, and when asked, reply with the sender's number. Networks use these to block numbers.
2. Forward scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk.This is the National Cyber Security Centre's suspicious email reporting service. Forward the whole email rather than a screenshot, because the headers are what make it useful.
3. Report fake websites to the NCSC as well.They run a website reporting form. Fake shops, cloned bank sites and fake delivery pages all belong here, and confirmed ones get taken down.
4. Report scam calls to the network and to the Information Commissioner's Office where relevant.Nuisance marketing calls go to the ICO, which enforces the rules. Fraudulent calls impersonating a bank belong with Action Fraud and your bank.
5. Contact your bank first if money is involved.Call the number on the back of your card, or dial 159 where your bank participates — that is a short code that connects you securely to your own bank. Speed matters more than anything else here.
6. Report fraud to Action Fraud.For actual or attempted fraud in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, online or by phone. In Scotland, report to Police Scotland on 101. You get a reference number, which insurers and banks often ask for.
7. Report the advert or the account too.If it came through a social platform or a marketplace, use their own reporting tool as well. That is the fastest route to the specific listing being removed.
8. Do not reply, click or engage.Replying confirms the number or address is live and increases what you get. Forward, then delete and block.

Tips

• Forwarding a text to 7726 does not stop the message going to the person you also want to warn. Tell family separately.
• Keep the reference number Action Fraud gives you. Banks and insurers ask for it, and it links later reports together.
• If a scam impersonates a real company, tell that company as well — most banks and delivery firms have a reporting address and act on them.

Common mistakes

• Screenshotting an email instead of forwarding it — The technical headers carry the information that identifies the sender's infrastructure. A picture of the text is far less useful.
• Replying 'STOP' to a scam text — STOP works for legitimate UK marketing messages. To a scammer it simply confirms a real person reads that number.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask