Scammed? The first hour matters: what to do, in order
You gave the code, or transferred, or entered your card details. This is not the time for blame. This order stops the loss and raises the chance of getting something back.
Kansel2 min read
First 10 minutes: stop the bleeding
- Call the bank or the wallet on the number printed on the back of your card or inside the app, and ask them to block the card or freeze the wallet right away. This comes before everything else.
- Change the PIN from the app, and remove any device that isn't yours from the account settings if the app allows it.
- If you gave a code to someone claiming to be from your operator: call the operator on its official short number and ask them to freeze SIM replacement on your line. A replacement SIM is what sends your bank's messages to the scammer.
- If you transferred on InstaPay: customer service on 15989, give the transaction reference, and ask your bank for a "goodwill request".
First hour: keep the evidence
- Delete nothing. Messages, the calls in your log, transfer screenshots, links, account names. These go into the police report and count as evidence.
- Take screenshots of everything, with the date and time visible.
- Write the story down in order while it's fresh: who called, what they said, what you did, at what time.
The same day: report
- Cybercrime police: hotline 108, around the clock; the General Department for Information Technology on 0224065052 and 0224065051; the reporting unit in Abbassia, Cairo. Reports are also taken at any security directorate.
- The telecom regulator (NTRA): 155 for any fraud call in the name of a mobile operator or a "data update".
- The institution whose name was used: the bank, Egypt Post, the courier. They warn their other customers.
- Kansel: report the number. It takes seconds, and the number gets blocked for thousands of others before it rings.
Speed matters for two things: whether the bank can still stop the transaction, and whether the report lands while the evidence is fresh. Delay hurts both.
The week after
- Watch your statement daily, and report any transaction you don't recognise at once.
- Change passwords that may have been seen, and turn on two-step verification for email and social accounts.
- If the scammer has a photo of your ID, tell the bank, and know that someone may try to open accounts or lines with it.
And then
The people this has happened to are very many, and none of them is stupid. The call is designed to work on urgency and fear. What sets you apart from the next person is that you reported it.
