What to do if you paid an advance fee for a job, loan, visa, grant, or prize
Advance-fee scams ask for money before releasing a job, loan, prize, visa, or grant that does not exist. Stopping further payments now is the priority.
Quick answer
Advance-fee scams ask for money before releasing a job, loan, prize, visa, or grant that does not exist. Stopping further payments now is the priority.
- Stop paying - do not pay any 'final', 'release', 'tax', 'unlock', 'verification', or 'processing' fee.
- Contact your bank or payment provider to try to stop or reverse the payment.
- Save the advert, offer, messages, and receipts.
- Check whether you shared ID documents as well as money.
Do this now
Contact your bank or payment provider immediately, and the platform where the offer appeared.
Understanding what happened
Advance-fee scams promise something valuable - a job, loan, prize, visa, or grant - but require a payment first, then invent new fees to keep you paying. Recognising the pattern is what stops the losses.
Because the 'reward' never arrives, victims are often approached later by fake recovery services. Treat any such offer as a second scam.
The steps here focus on stopping payments, recovering what you can through your bank, and reporting so others are warned.
First 5 minutes
- Stop paying - do not pay any 'final', 'release', 'tax', 'unlock', 'verification', or 'processing' fee.
- Contact your bank or payment provider to try to stop or reverse the payment.
- Save the advert, offer, messages, and receipts.
- Check whether you shared ID documents as well as money.
First 24 hours
- Report the fake recruiter, lender, or company to the platform where you found them.
- Report to your local cybercrime, consumer-protection, or fraud authority.
- If you shared ID, watch for identity theft and follow that guide.
- Warn anyone you referred to the same 'opportunity'.
What not to do
- Do not pay 'just one more' fee to release the promised money.
- Do not pay a recovery agent who promises to get your fee back.
- Do not share more ID or bank details to 'process a refund'.
Evidence to save
- The job advert, loan offer, or prize notice
- Messages with the recruiter, lender, or 'agent'
- Payment receipts, amounts, dates, and the account paid
How to report
Report through official channels for your area.
Find official reporting links for your country in the reporting directory.
- Do not use phone numbers or links from the suspicious message - look up the official ones yourself.
- Report quickly if money was sent or ID documents were shared; speed improves your options.
- Keep your evidence - see how to save scam evidence.
A genuine employer, lender, or government body never asks for an upfront fee. Beware of follow-up recovery scams promising refunds for a fee.
Stop it happening again
Treat any upfront fee for a job, loan, prize, visa, or grant as a red flag.
Verify employers and lenders through their official website and licensing or regulator records.
Never pay to receive money you have supposedly won or been approved for.
This is general educational guidance, not legal or financial advice, and it is not a guarantee. Always verify through official channels.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know it was an advance-fee scam?
If you were asked to pay before receiving a job, loan, prize, visa, or grant - especially with urgency or changing reasons for more fees - that is the advance-fee pattern.
Can I get the fee back?
Contacting your bank quickly gives the best chance, but there is no guarantee. Never pay anyone who guarantees recovery for an upfront fee.