Guides on reporting online abuse
Practical, neutral walkthroughs on how phishing, malware and scam websites are investigated, reported and taken down: written by the Fraudpol team.
Phishing
What is phishing? Emails, links, texts and attacks explained
A complete foundation: definitions, defanged examples, warning signs, post-click steps and live public cases.
Read guidePhishing
What is vishing? Voice phishing explained
How deceptive calls work, vishing vs phishing vs smishing, common scripts and safe reporting steps.
Read guidePhishing
What is spear phishing? Targeted attacks and whaling
How targeted messages use research and business context to bypass normal filters and verification habits.
Read guideHow-to
How to report phishing in Outlook
Current reporting steps for Outlook on the web, Windows and mobile, plus the separate website report.
Read guideReporting
How to report a phishing site to the registrar (and what to write)
Find the right abuse address, attach the right evidence and use wording that actually gets acted on.
Read guideReporting
What is an abuse contact and how do you find it?
Who publishes abuse addresses, how to look up both the registrar and the network, and what to do with dead ends.
Read guideTakedowns
How long does a phishing takedown actually take?
Realistic timelines per phase, what makes a case slow, and how Fraudpol measures its own durations.
Read guideBrand protection
Typosquatting: how to find lookalike domains of your brand
The variant patterns attackers use, the signals that separate parked names from live threats, and what to do about each.
Read guideIncident response
Your website was hacked and used for phishing: what to do now
The first hour, finding the entry point, cleaning properly and getting the browser warning lifted.
Read guideReference
Where to report cybercrime online, by country
The official portals in the US, UK, Australia and Canada, what each one handles, and what a police report can and cannot do.
Read guideHow-to
How to find the abuse contact for any domain
Read WHOIS and RDAP, trace a domain to its network owner, and know which party can take the site down.
Read guideHow-to
How to report abuse to a hosting provider
A copy-paste complaint template, what to attach, what never to write, and how to escalate.
Read guidePhishing
12 phishing indicators to check before you click
A hands-on checklist Fraudpol analysts use to score a suspicious URL in under a minute.
Read guideMalware
How a malware URL is actually taken down
From IoC capture to ASN escalation: the full lifecycle of a malware takedown request.
Read guideFundamentals
Domain abuse explained: hosts, registrars, ASNs
Who controls what on the internet, and which party actually removes a malicious site.
Read guideFraud
Fake shop checklist: 10 signals that give a scam store away
How to spot a fraudulent webshop, preserve evidence and file a report that gets acted on.
Read guideHow-to
How to report a scam website
Get a scam site blocked and taken down, and where the official reports go.
Read guideSocial Media
How to report social media scams and fake accounts
Step-by-step reporting on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X and LinkedIn: and when to escalate.
Read guideBrand Protection
Brand impersonation protection: stop fake sites using your name
Detect, document and remove websites that impersonate your brand: from phishing to counterfeit stores.
Read guideFundamentals
How to identify a fake website: 8 red flags anyone can spot
Practical checks for URL, HTTPS, reviews, images and payment methods before you trust a site.
Read guideCryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency scam reporting: document and report crypto fraud
Preserve blockchain evidence, notify exchanges and file with law enforcement for crypto scams.
Read guideHow-to
How to report to Google Safe Browsing: a step-by-step guide
File phishing and malware reports with Google Safe Browsing and understand what happens next.
Read guideTakedown
Phishing takedown service: how malicious sites are removed
What a managed takedown service does, how it files with hosters and registrars, and how long it takes.
Read guideReport a scammer
Guides about the people and groups behind online fraud: what to collect, where to report, and what Fraudpol does with a case. Fraudpol does not recover money and never charges victims a fee.
Report a scammer
How to report a scammer or scam group
What Fraudpol accepts, what happens after a report, and how to report to the police or the FBI yourself.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a crypto scammer
Wallet addresses, transaction hashes, the exchange you sent from and official reporting channels.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a romance scammer
Warning signs, the evidence to keep, and reporting to the dating platform and the police.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a Telegram scammer
Accounts, channels and bots, and what to capture before they disappear.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report an Instagram scammer
Scam accounts, impersonation of you or your brand, and reporting to the police.
Read guideReport a scammer
Scammed? What to do now
The first 24 hours step by step, and an honest answer on getting money back.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a scammer to the police
Official online reporting channels in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany and India.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a scammer to the FBI
The IC3 complaint step by step, what to collect first and what happens afterwards.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a scammer's phone number
Scam calls and texts: carrier reporting, national channels and what evidence to keep.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a scammer's email address
Mail provider reporting, official phishing channels and why headers matter.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a scammer on Facebook
Profiles, Messenger, Marketplace and Facebook Dating, plus impersonation reports.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a scammer on WhatsApp
In-app reporting and blocking, and saving evidence before a chat disappears.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a scammer on TikTok
Reporting accounts, videos, LIVE streams and direct messages.
Read guideReport a scammer
How to report a scammer on PayPal
Resolution Center disputes, reporting accounts and forwarding phishing emails.
Read guideReport a scammer
Recovery scams: fake fund-recovery services
How victims are targeted a second time, the red flags, and what real help looks like.
Read guideReporting a specific kind of abuse
Each of these walks through the evidence to keep and where the report should go. A malicious URL you found online: report a phishing site or report a scam website. A fake storefront using a marketplace brand: report an Amazon fake shop. A message in your inbox: report a scam email, report spam email, or a fake shared-file notice: report Dropbox phishing.
Weighing outside help for a brand or company? Our comparison of domain takedown services covers what to look for. New features and fixes on our side are listed in the changelog. Case write-ups and provider response data from our own work appear on the Fraudpol blog.
Free tools that go with these guides
No account needed: abuse contact lookup, URL defanger, site status check and the lookalike domain scan.
See also the confirmed abuse registry and measured provider response times.
More reporting pages
- Report a scam website
- Report a phishing website
- Report a phishing email
- Report a malware website
- Report phishing
- Report malware
- Malicious website reporting
- Website scam check
- Social media scam reporting
- Brand impersonation protection
- Crypto scam reporting
- How Fraudpol works
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- Responsible disclosure
- Support Fraudpol