How to Get Money Back After a Scam in Australia

This page explains the realistic routes for trying to get money back after a scam in Australia: your own bank, the bank that received the money, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), card chargebacks and the payment provider you used. It covers national schemes and federal law as at 25 October 2026, not state or territory law. No route guarantees a refund, and for many scams the honest answer is that money which has left Australia is hard to get back. For the first steps after a scam and the other scam types, start at the Australian scams hub.

Act fast: the first few hours matter

Scamwatch's first instruction is the one that matters most: "Contact your bank or card provider immediately to report the scam. Ask them to stop any transactions." If you are not sure whether it is a scam, stop sending money anyway. Scamwatch warns that "Scammers will keep asking for more money until you stop."

Speed matters because the bank can only chase money that is still somewhere it can reach. Scamwatch has said that "Financial institutions may be able to find where the money was sent, block the scam accounts and help others to avoid sending money to scammers." ASIC puts it the same way for transfers and card payments: "They may be able to reverse the transaction."

When you call, ask your bank directly whether it has raised a recall request with the receiving bank, and write down the date and time you first reported the scam. AFCA says that when it investigates, it looks at how the bank responded, and it may award compensation for stress and inconvenience where a bank "unreasonably delayed in raising a recall request with the receiving financial firm" or in telling you the outcome.

Who to contact depends on how you paid

Then report the scam. Reporting does not by itself get money back, but it helps stop the scam and warn others; see how to report a scam in Australia for every channel and what each one does. If the scammer has your identity documents or account details, call IDCARE, the free national identity and cyber support service, on 1800 595 160.

Step one: a formal complaint to your bank

If the bank says it cannot or will not refund you, the next step is a formal complaint to that bank. Moneysmart calls this internal dispute resolution (IDR) and recommends putting it in writing, with:

• the word "complaint" in the heading or subject line
• your name, contact details and the date
• a clear explanation of the problem and the outcome you want
• copies of relevant documents, such as bank statements

Keep the originals and a copy of your complaint. You must go through this step first. AFCA says that "Before coming to AFCA, consumers should first raise any scam-related complaints directly with the bank involved," and that a complaint which has not been through the bank's process will be referred back to the bank.

What to gather before you complain

AFCA has published the information it typically asks a customer for in a scam complaint. Gathering it now makes both the bank complaint and any later AFCA complaint stronger:

• the transactions you dispute, with dates and amounts
• who you thought you were paying, what the payments were for, and the payment instructions the scammer gave you
• whether the scammer told you what to say if the bank asked questions
• how and when you realised it was a scam, and how and when you first told the bank
• copies of all messages, emails and call logs with the scammer
• any contact you had with bank staff before the payments, including whether they asked questions or gave a scam warning
• all correspondence with the bank about the complaint

Be truthful about what happened, including anything the scammer coached you to say. AFCA notes that when a bank asks about a payment, "it is important that customers answer the questions truthfully."

Step two: the Australian Financial Complaints Authority

If you are unhappy with your bank's response, or it has not responded within a reasonable time, you can complain to AFCA. Under ASIC's internal dispute resolution rules (Regulatory Guide 271), a bank must generally give its final response to a standard complaint within 30 calendar days. AFCA is an independent dispute resolution scheme, and "AFCA is a free service to consumers." You can start a complaint online at afca.org.au or call 1800 931 678 (free call).

AFCA can only consider complaints about its members. Its scams factsheet says that under its Rules it currently cannot consider a complaint about a party that is not a member, "such as a telecommunication provider or a digital platform provider." Businesses regulated under the Scams Prevention Framework must be AFCA members from 1 September 2026, but AFCA can only hear framework complaints about matters on or after 31 March 2027. Until then, scam complaints to AFCA are about financial firms, such as your bank. You can check whether a firm is a member with AFCA's Financial Firm Search.

How AFCA decides a complaint against your own bank

AFCA first decides whether the disputed payment was authorised. A payment is authorised if you made it, or a third party made it with your knowledge and consent, even if you later discover it was a scam. Romance, investment, impersonation, invoice and job scams usually involve authorised payments. A payment a scammer made without your knowledge or consent is unauthorised, and a different set of rules applies (see the ePayments Code section below).

For an authorised payment, AFCA starts from the bank's primary duty, which is to follow your instructions and make the payment. The question is whether the bank also had a "duty to inquire", which AFCA says arises where "an honest and reasonable banker, with knowledge of the relevant facts, would consider there was a serious possibility the customer is being scammed." AFCA looks at:

• whether the bank had special knowledge about the payment or the receiving account, for example a warning from a regulator or Scamwatch, or an alert from its own fraud detection system
• the circumstances of the payment, including whether you made it in a branch or by phone, where staff had more chance to notice something was wrong
• if the bank did ask questions, whether they were "meaningful and relevant"

If the bank was on notice of a serious possibility of fraud and processed the payment without appropriate inquiries, AFCA may find it liable for the full loss, or for a portion of it where AFCA considers apportioning the loss fair. If AFCA is satisfied the bank made no error, AFCA says "the customer will likely be liable for their financial loss." AFCA also says that, without a legislative framework for scam detection, it cannot review the adequacy of a bank's fraud systems or make a bank adopt particular systems.

Beyond the direct loss, AFCA can award other compensation, including indirect financial loss, some professional and travel costs, interest, and compensation for stress and inconvenience where a bank handled the scam report poorly.

Complaints against the bank that received your money

Until recently AFCA could only look at the scam victim's own bank. That changed on 12 March 2026. AFCA's factsheet states: "On 12 March 2026, AFCA's jurisdiction expanded to allow us to investigate scam-related complaints involving receiving banks and unauthorised opening of accounts and credit facilities in a consumer's name without their consent or authority, including where the consumer making the complaint is not a customer of that bank."

Points to know about receiving-bank complaints:

• It applies to older scams too. The scam does not need to have happened on or after 12 March 2026, as long as the complaint meets AFCA's eligibility rules and time limits.
• One complaint per bank. AFCA says that if you want both the sending and the receiving bank investigated, you "should lodge separate complaints against each."
• Complain to the receiving bank first. The same rule applies: raise it with that bank before going to AFCA.
• It must be an AFCA member bank, and there are no new duties. The receiving firm must be an AFCA member that is also a bank. AFCA says the change "does not create new legal obligations or duties of care for banks to consumers who are not their customers," so it checks whether the bank followed existing legal obligations and good industry practice, such as freezing an account once told it is a mule account.
• You will not learn who the scammer is. AFCA notes the receiving bank "cannot share the identity of the account holder or details of the account with the consumer."
• No second attempt at an old complaint. If you lodged a complaint against a receiving bank before 12 March 2026, AFCA says it cannot consider the same complaint against that bank again.

If a fraudster opened an account or credit in your name, that is identity theft as well as a scam; see bank liability for identity theft in Australia and identity theft laws in Australia.

Time limits

AFCA states the standard time limits on its receiving-bank pages: the complaint must be lodged before the earlier of six years from when you became aware (or should reasonably have become aware) of the loss, and two years from the bank's internal dispute resolution response. The two-year clock starts from the bank's answer, so do not let a refusal letter sit in a drawer.

Monetary limits and compensation caps

AFCA has limits on the size of claim it can hear and on what it can award. The figures below are AFCA's published limits for the general category of claims that took effect on 1 January 2024 (superannuation and some other complaint types have their own rows). AFCA's Rules require it to adjust its monetary limits every three years, so check AFCA for the current figures before you lodge.

Card chargebacks

A chargeback asks the card scheme to reverse a card payment. AFCA describes it this way: "A successful chargeback involves your bank (or credit union) applying to your credit card scheme (e.g. Visa or Mastercard) to ask them to reverse a charge made on your credit card, however chargebacks are not always available." The ACCC's advice for paying online is to "Use a credit card rather than a debit card or bank transfer so that you can ask your bank for a chargeback."

If you paid by card, ask your bank promptly whether a chargeback is available for your payment. The official sources we reviewed describe chargebacks for credit card payments; whether one is available for a debit card payment is a question for your bank, and a payment you made by bank transfer or PayID is not a card payment.

The ePayments Code

The ePayments Code sets rules for electronic payments, but ASIC says it "is presently a voluntary code of practice." Most banks, credit unions and building societies subscribe to it, and "The Code only protects consumers who deal with a subscriber." It sets liability rules for unauthorised transactions and "establishes a regime for recovering mistaken internet payments."

Where the Code clearly helps is a payment made without your knowledge or consent, for example after a scammer took control of your online banking. The rules on when you are and are not liable for an unauthorised transaction are explained on our page about bank liability for identity theft. ASIC's overview does not say how the Code applies to a payment you were tricked into making yourself, so for an authorised scam payment the AFCA approach above is the more reliable guide. Ask your bank which rules it says apply to your payment.

Crypto and money sent overseas: realistic expectations

Recovery is hardest where the money went into crypto or offshore. ASIC is blunt: "If you have paid scammers via crypto-assets, your bank or credit union won't be able to assist. As most of these scams originate overseas, once money has left Australia, it is hard to recover. Unfortunately, ASIC cannot assist in getting money back." Scamwatch says of crypto scams: "it's unlikely you will ever get your money back."

That does not mean doing nothing. Report the loss to the crypto platform or exchange you used, report it to police through ReportCyber, and if you sent the money to the exchange from your bank account, the AFCA route against your bank may still be open. Investment and crypto scams have their own page: investment scams in Australia.

No official source publishes a recovery rate for scam losses, so be wary of anyone who quotes you odds.

The Scams Prevention Framework: what it changes, and when

The Scams Prevention Framework Act 2025 (Act No. 15 of 2025) received assent on 20 February 2025 and commenced the next day. It inserted a new Part IVF into the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, whose stated object is "to prevent and respond to scams" affecting people in Australia and small businesses. It is already law. What has not started yet is most of what it requires.

A May 2026 designation instrument (registered 28 May 2026) designated banking (with ASIC as regulator) and telecommunications (with ACMA as regulator) as the first regulated sectors, plus digital platforms, where the ACCC is the regulator by default because the instrument designates no other regulator for that sector. The digital platforms sector covers social media, instant messaging and paid advertising on internet search engines. The obligations are staged:

The date that matters for a reader today is the last one. AFCA says consumers can complain to the Australian Scams Ombudsman about framework scams "if the matter to which the complaint relates occurs on or after 31 March 2027," and that AFCA "will not have jurisdiction to consider complaints under the SPF if the relevant matters occur before this date." If you were scammed before 31 March 2027, you use the existing bank and AFCA route described above, not the framework.

Two things you may have read are not law. A ministerial release on the Act's passage spoke of "fines of up to $50 million"; the Act itself sets maximum penalties by penalty units, three times the benefit, or a percentage of turnover. And a 2026 ministerial release said a government paper sets out that the Government believes "scam victims with verified losses below $3,000 be automatically reimbursed." That is a stated government position in a consultation on draft rules and codes, not a right you can rely on. Check Treasury for whether final rules have been made.

Beware of recovery scams

People who have just lost money are prime targets for a second scam. ASIC's warning is simple: "If you have been scammed, and someone contacts you with an offer to help recover money, it is a scam." AFCA describes recovery agents who pose as a law firm or another business "purportedly uniquely experienced in recovering money lost to scams," asking for an upfront fee or a percentage of whatever is recovered.

Moneysmart lists the patterns. Hang up or block anyone who:

• offers to help you recover what you lost
• claims they can recover your losses for a percentage, or for a fee described as a tax, deposit, retainer or refundable insurance bond
• offers to swap your investment for another one to recover your losses
• asks you to pay for travel and accommodation to find the scammer

Scamwatch reports that "1 in 3 victims of a scam have been scammed more than once." You never need to pay anyone to complain to your bank or to AFCA. Scamwatch describes IDCARE as a free government-funded service and says: "They will never contact you out of the blue."

If you received money, not just lost it

Some scams pay you first, for a "job" or a refund that was too large, and ask you to send money on. If money from someone else passed through your account, stop moving it and tell your bank. Read money mule scams in Australia, because the criminal law can treat the account holder as part of the laundering chain.

Support while you deal with it

Losing money to a scam is stressful, and it is not a sign of foolishness. Scams are designed to deceive, and they work on careful people too. If the loss is causing debt problems, Moneysmart points to free, confidential financial counselling. For emotional support at any hour, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. If your personal information was exposed, see what to do after a data breach in Australia, and if your identity was misused you may be able to get an identity theft victims' certificate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my bank refund me if I was scammed?

There is no automatic refund rule today. If you made the payment yourself, AFCA asks whether the bank should have questioned it before processing it, for example because of a fraud alert or a warning about the receiving account. If it should have and did not, AFCA may order the bank to pay all or part of the loss. If the bank made no error, the customer will likely bear the loss.

How long do I have to take a scam complaint to AFCA?

AFCA states the limit as the earlier of six years from when you became aware, or should reasonably have become aware, of the loss and two years from the bank's internal dispute resolution response. Complain to the bank first, and do not wait long after its answer.

Can I complain about the bank that received the scammer's money?

Yes, since 12 March 2026, if it is an AFCA member bank, even if you were never a customer of that bank. Raise it with the receiving bank first, then AFCA. If you want both your own bank and the receiving bank investigated, lodge a separate complaint against each.

Can I use the Scams Prevention Framework for a scam that happened this year?

No. AFCA says it will only hear complaints under the framework where the matter occurs on or after 31 March 2027. A scam before that date uses the existing route: a complaint to the bank, then AFCA.

Is there an automatic refund for scam losses under $3,000?

Not as law. A 2026 ministerial release said a government paper sets out that the Government believes victims with verified losses below $3,000 should be automatically reimbursed, but that is a policy position in a consultation on draft rules, not an enforceable right.

Can I get a chargeback on a scam payment?

Possibly, if you paid by credit card. A chargeback asks the card scheme to reverse the charge, and AFCA notes chargebacks are not always available. Ask your bank quickly. A bank transfer or PayID payment is not a card payment.

Should I pay a company that says it can recover my money?

No. ASIC says that if someone contacts you after a scam offering to help recover money, it is a scam. Complaining to your bank and to AFCA is free.

Does it cost anything to go to AFCA?

No. AFCA is a free service for consumers. You can start a complaint online or call 1800 931 678.