Georgia Scam and Fraud Laws: Where to Report, Your Right to Sue (2026)

Georgia's consumer protection law, the Fair Business Practices Act (FBPA), lets a person injured by a deceptive consumer practice sue for damages and recover attorney's fees, but only after sending the business a written demand at least 30 days before filing. Triple damages are available only when the violation was intentional, and the suit generally must be filed within two years of when you knew or should have known about it. The Act reaches deceptive acts aimed at selling or leasing goods, services or property for personal, family or household use, so a victim who never bought anything from the scammer may not fit it.

Georgia's Attorney General takes scam complaints online, by mail and by fax, and by phone it may ask you to put the complaint in writing, but its Consumer Protection Division says it mediates only some complaints and "cannot force the business to reimburse you." For older and disabled Georgians, exploitation is a felony, bank employees must report suspected exploitation, and a 2026 law (HB 945), in effect since July 1, 2026, lets banks pause suspicious transactions and caps and regulates crypto ATM transactions.

Information last verified on October 2, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This guide covers Georgia state law: the Fair Business Practices Act (O.C.G.A. Title 10, Chapter 1, Article 15, Part 2), Georgia complaint offices, Georgia protections for older and disabled adults, and Georgia courts and deadlines for suing. Federal refund and reporting rights are summarized briefly and covered in depth on our national guides. Out of scope: criminal defense, and the law of other states. The Georgia statute text quoted here was checked on October 2, 2026 against the 2025 Georgia Code as published by Justia, which includes 2026 session laws.

First steps if you were scammed in Georgia

Contact the bank, card issuer, payment app, wire company or crypto exchange that moved your money right away; that company is usually the one that can stop or reverse a payment. Your federal rights depend on how you paid, and our guide on how to get money back after a scam walks through each payment method. App transfers are covered in the Zelle and payment app scams guide.

Then report it. Most scams go to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (in Spanish, ReporteFraude.ftc.gov) and online crime to the FBI's IC3; our where to report a scam guide lists every federal channel. The Georgia offices below are in addition to those, not instead of them. For an overview of every scam type, start at our scams and fraud hub.

Where to report a scam in Georgia

The Attorney General's office lists its own scam guidance, including "What to Do if You've Lost Money in a Scam" and pages on mobile payment app scams, romance scams and the top scams targeting seniors, on its scams and tips page. Its complaint page offers the consumer complaint form in Spanish as a PDF. The office says it does not accept complaints by email, and the online form allows up to three attachments.

What an Attorney General complaint can and cannot do

Be realistic. The Consumer Protection Division says plainly: "Georgia Department of Law's Consumer Protection Division does not act as a judge in the dispute and cannot force the business to reimburse you or comply in any other way." It says it mediates "some of the complaints we receive," that "the matter may escalate to an investigation if the company has shown a pattern of similar violations," and that you will not receive an immediate reply.

A complaint is still worth filing. It puts the business on the state's radar, and mediation sometimes resolves a dispute with a real Georgia business. If you need your money back, though, your payment company and the FBPA lawsuit described below are the routes that can produce it.

If the problem is with your bank rather than the scammer, the Department of Banking and Finance points consumers to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaint process. See our guide on what to do when a bank refuses a scam refund.

Georgia's consumer protection law: can you sue?

Sometimes. The Fair Business Practices Act of 1975 gives a private right to sue, but it is narrower than "anyone who was scammed." Section 10-1-399 says:

"Any person who suffers injury or damages ... as a result of consumer acts or practices in violation of this part ... may bring an action individually, but not in a representative capacity, against the person or persons engaged in such violations under the rules of civil procedure to seek equitable injunctive relief and to recover his or her general and exemplary damages sustained as a consequence thereof in any court having jurisdiction over the defendant; provided, however, that exemplary damages shall be awarded only in cases of intentional violation."

Three defined terms in section 10-1-392 decide whether that fits your situation. "Consumer acts or practices" means "acts or practices intended to encourage consumer transactions." A "consumer transaction" is "the sale, purchase, lease, or rental of goods, services, or property, real or personal, primarily for personal, family, or household purposes." And "consumer" means "a natural person."

So the Act is built for deception in the marketplace: a seller, contractor, online store or service that lies to get you to buy. A victim who simply sent money to an impostor, without buying or leasing anything, may not fit that definition. Whether your scam counts is a fact question for a Georgia lawyer. The phrase "not in a representative capacity" also means you sue for yourself; the section does not allow a class action.

The Act also has exemptions. Section 10-1-396(1) says the Act does not apply to "actions or transactions specifically authorized under laws administered by or rules and regulations promulgated by any regulatory agency of this state or the United States." How Georgia courts apply that exemption to banks and other regulated businesses is a question we have not researched; ask a lawyer if your claim is against one.

The 30-day written demand

You cannot simply file. Section 10-1-399 requires a written demand first:

"At least 30 days prior to the filing of any such action, a written demand for relief, identifying the claimant and reasonably describing the unfair or deceptive act or practice relied upon and the injury suffered, shall be delivered to any prospective respondent."

The demand is not required "if the prospective respondent does not maintain a place of business or does not keep assets within the state."

The demand starts a 30-day window that matters to you. If the business makes a written settlement offer within 30 days and you reject it, the business can later show the court that offer, and if the court finds the offer "was reasonable in relation to the injury actually suffered," your recovery can be limited to what was offered. Take a written offer seriously.

What you can recover

• Damages. A winning plaintiff recovers general damages. Exemplary damages are available "only in cases of intentional violation."
• Triple damages, only if intentional. The section says: "a court shall award three times actual damages for an intentional violation." Under section 10-1-392, an intentional violation occurs "when the person committing the act or practice knew that his or her conduct was in violation of this part." Ordinary deception that does not meet that standard yields actual damages, not triple.
• Attorney's fees. If the court finds a violation, the injured person "shall ... irrespective of the amount in controversy, be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses of litigation." There is a catch: the court "shall deny a recovery of attorneys' fees and expenses of litigation which are incurred after the rejection of a reasonable written offer of settlement made within 30 days" of the demand.
• The risk the other way. If the court finds the action "continued past the rejection of such reasonable written offer of settlement in bad faith or for the purposes of harassment," it shall award attorney's fees and litigation expenses to the business.

The deadline

Section 10-1-401(a) bars a private FBPA suit brought "more than two years after the person bringing the action knew or should have known of the occurrence of the alleged violation" or more than two years after the termination of any proceeding or action by the State of Georgia, "whichever is later." The 30-day demand comes out of that window, so do not wait until the last month.

The honest limit

An FBPA case needs a defendant you can identify, serve and collect from. That often works against a Georgia business, a contractor or a seller with a real address. It usually does not work against an anonymous scammer who called from a spoofed number, used a fake name or moved the money overseas, and a judgment does not help if nobody can be found to pay it.

Protections for older adults in Georgia

Exploitation is a felony. Under section 16-5-102(a), "any person who knowingly and willfully exploits a disabled adult, elder person, or resident ... shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 20 years, a fine of not more than $50,000.00, or both." Under section 16-5-100, a "disabled adult" includes a person 18 or older who is mentally or physically incapacitated or has Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Prosecution is up to the state; a criminal fine is not money paid to the victim.

Bank employees must report. Section 30-5-4(a)(1)(B) says: "Any employee of a financial institution or investment company having reasonable cause to believe that a disabled adult or elder person has been exploited shall report or cause reports to be made." The duty does not apply while the employee is acting as a fiduciary for assets held in that capacity. If you suspect a parent is being scammed, tell the bank directly; that can give it the reasonable cause the statute refers to.

Report to Adult Protective Services. Call 1-866-552-4464 and press 3 (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.) or file a web report at any time. APS says it "is not a first responder. Call 911 if someone is in immediate danger!" It also says a web report or voicemail is not yet an accepted report: "If you do not receive a return call within 48 hours, please call." For fraud against anyone 60 or older, the U.S. Department of Justice's National Elder Fraud Hotline (833-372-8311) can also help you report; see where to report a scam and our elder fraud guide.

A civil lawsuit for older and disabled victims. A separate Georgia article gives older and disabled people their own cause of action. Section 10-1-853 says: "An elder or disabled person who suffers damage or injury as a result of an offense or violation described in this article has a cause of action to recover actual damages, punitive damages, if appropriate, and reasonable attorney's fees." For that article, section 10-1-850 defines an "elder person" as "a person who is 60 years of age or older." Exactly which violations that article reaches, and how it works alongside an FBPA claim, is something a Georgia lawyer should confirm for your facts.

Extra penalties go to the state. Under section 10-1-851, when a business that violated the FBPA (or certain related articles) did so against elder or disabled persons, the court "may impose an additional civil penalty not to exceed $10,000.00 for each violation." That is a civil penalty in addition to other penalties, not a payment to the victim.

HB 945 (2026): bank holds on suspected exploitation, in effect since July 1, 2026

HB 945, passed in 2026 and signed by the Governor, took effect on July 1, 2026. Its bank-hold rules are now O.C.G.A. sections 7-1-239.11 through 7-1-239.19.

The law lets a financial institution that "has reasonable cause to suspect that a transaction may involve, facilitate, result in, or contribute to financial exploitation" place a hold on a transaction on the account of an "eligible adult," an account on which the eligible adult is a beneficiary, or the account of the suspected exploiter. An eligible adult is a disabled adult or an "elderly adult," defined as "a natural person 65 years of age or older." Key points from the law:

• The hold is optional. The institution "may but is not required to" place it, and the law says it "does not create new rights or impose new obligations or new duties on a financial institution."
• Notice. The institution must notify the authorized parties on the account and any trusted contact in writing "no later than three business days" after placing the hold, unless it believes those people are involved in the exploitation.
• Length. A hold "expires on the fifteenth business day" after it is placed, may be extended "up to an additional 15 business days" if the institution's review still supports its belief, and a court may shorten or extend it.
• Trusted contacts. The law lets a financial institution permit an eligible adult to name a trusted contact on their accounts.

The hold rules reach Georgia banks and credit unions and, if they have federal deposit insurance, national banks, federal credit unions, federal savings and loan associations, and banks and credit unions chartered in other states (O.C.G.A. section 7-1-4(21)(L)).

Georgia laws aimed at specific scams

Crypto ATMs (virtual currency kiosks): HB 945, in effect since July 1, 2026

Georgia's Department of Banking and Finance said in 2023 guidance that "it is the view of the Department that most VC kiosk operators located in Georgia are required to obtain a money transmitter license." HB 945, in effect since July 1, 2026, added specific consumer rules for crypto kiosks (O.C.G.A. sections 7-1-699 through 7-1-699.11):

• Daily limits. "An aggregated maximum daily transaction limit of $2,500.00 for each new customer" and "$10,000.00 for each existing customer." A new customer is one registered with the operator for less than 72 hours.
• Fee cap. Total fees, commission, spread and other charges "shall not exceed 18 percent" of the cash exchanged or transmitted.
• Fraud warning. A separate bold warning the customer must acknowledge: "WARNING: LOSSES DUE TO FRAUDULENT OR ACCIDENTAL TRANSACTIONS MAY NOT BE RECOVERABLE AND TRANSACTIONS IN VIRTUAL CURRENCY ARE IRREVERSIBLE." Required disclosures describe common scams, including callers impersonating "a customer's loved ones, threatening jail time" and scammers "insisting that a customer withdraw money from the customer's bank account and purchase cryptocurrency."
• Refunds, narrowly. A new customer who was "defrauded, fraudulently induced, or otherwise deceived" may get a refund of "the full amount of all transactions" made in the first 72 hours, but only if they "contact the operator and a government or law enforcement agency ... within five days of the last transaction" in that 72-hour period. Any customer, new or existing, who was defrauded may get back "the full amount of fees." The operator must pay a qualifying refund "within 72 hours of the request."

The practical point: under the law, an existing customer gets back fees, not the money sent. If someone told you to put cash into a crypto ATM, stop, then report it the same day to the kiosk operator and to police or the FTC. For how crypto scams work, see our crypto and investment scams guide.

Telemarketing and computer scams under the FBPA

Section 10-1-393.5(b) makes it unlawful for "any person who is engaged in telemarketing, any person who is engaged in any activity involving or using a computer or computer network, or any person who is engaged in home repair work or home improvement work to: (1) Employ any device, scheme, or artifice to defraud." Those are the phone and computer channels many scams use. See our guides to phishing, smishing and vishing and tech support and fake invoice scams.

Door-to-door sales: three days to cancel

Under section 10-1-6, a buyer may cancel a home solicitation sale agreement "until 12:00 Midnight of the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs the agreement." Notice of cancellation goes to the seller's place of business "by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery," posted by that deadline. After a cancellation, the seller must refund deposits "within ten days" and may keep no more than "5 percent of the gross sales price ... or $25.00, whichever is less." Which sales count as a home solicitation sale is defined elsewhere in the Code, so check that your sale qualifies before relying on this right.

Unwanted sales calls

Georgia's do-not-call law, section 46-5-27, lets a person who received more than one telephone solicitation in a 12-month period from or on behalf of the same seller, in violation of the law, sue for actual monetary loss or "up to $1,000.00 in damages for each such violation," whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs, or sue as part of a class action. The Attorney General can seek a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per violation. The state list is run by the Georgia Public Service Commission.

Suing a scammer or a business in Georgia

Magistrate court. Georgia's magistrate courts hear "civil claims ... in which exclusive jurisdiction is not vested in the superior court and the amount demanded or the value of the property claimed does not exceed $15,000.00" (section 15-10-2(a)(5)). A 2026 law (HB 999) raises that limit to $25,000 on January 1, 2027. That is the usual place for a modest claim against a business or a person you can identify and serve.

Deadlines. The FBPA has its own two-year limit (above). For other claims, the deadline depends on how the claim is framed. Section 9-3-31 says "actions for injuries to personalty shall be brought within four years after the right of action accrues," and section 9-3-96 says that if the defendant's fraud debarred or deterred you from suing, "the period of limitation shall run only from the time of the plaintiff's discovery of the fraud." Which period fits your claim is a question for a Georgia lawyer; do not assume a single fraud deadline. Our Georgia statute of limitations guide covers other civil deadlines.

Who you can actually reach. Lawsuits work against people and businesses with a name, an address and assets. A scammer who hid behind a fake identity, a spoofed caller ID or an overseas account is usually not reachable through a Georgia court. In those cases your payment company, a fast report to law enforcement, and protecting your identity are where your effort pays off. Our guide on when a lawyer helps after a scam explains when legal help is worth it. If the scammer has your personal details, see what to do when a scammer has your information and our Georgia identity theft laws guide.

Related guides

• Scams and fraud: your rights and where to start
• How to get money back after a scam
• Where to report a scam
• Zelle and payment app scams
• Elder fraud
• Government impersonation scams
• Money mule and fake check scams
• Georgia identity theft laws
• Georgia debt collection laws
• Georgia statute of limitations

Last updated: October 2, 2026.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. It covers Georgia and federal law as verified on October 2, 2026. For your specific situation, contact your payment company, the Georgia office named above, or a lawyer licensed in Georgia.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sue a scammer in Georgia?

Possibly, if you can identify and serve them and your loss came from consumer acts or practices covered by the Fair Business Practices Act, meaning deception aimed at a sale, purchase, lease or rental for personal, family or household use (O.C.G.A. sections 10-1-392 and 10-1-399). You must send a written demand at least 30 days before suing, and an anonymous or overseas scammer is usually not reachable through a Georgia court.

Does Georgia's Fair Business Practices Act award triple damages?

Only for an intentional violation. Section 10-1-399 says a court shall award three times actual damages for an intentional violation, which section 10-1-392 defines as one where the business knew its conduct violated the Act.

Do I have to send a demand letter before suing under the FBPA?

Yes, in most cases. Section 10-1-399 requires a written demand for relief, identifying you and describing the deceptive practice and your injury, delivered at least 30 days before filing. It is not required if the business does not maintain a place of business or does not keep assets in Georgia.

What happens if the business offers to settle after my demand?

If it makes a written settlement offer within 30 days and you reject it, the court can limit your recovery to that offer if it finds the offer reasonable, and attorney's fees incurred after the rejection are denied (section 10-1-399).

How long do I have to file an FBPA claim in Georgia?

Section 10-1-401(a) bars a private suit more than two years after you knew or should have known of the violation, or more than two years after any proceeding or action by the State of Georgia ends, whichever is later. The 30-day demand period comes out of that time.

Will the Georgia Attorney General get my money back?

Do not count on it. The Consumer Protection Division says it mediates some complaints but does not act as a judge and cannot force a business to reimburse you. File anyway online or by mail or fax (phone: 404-651-8600 or 1-800-869-1123, toll-free in Georgia), and contact your payment company for a reversal.

Who do I call if an older person in Georgia is being scammed?

Report it to Adult Protective Services at 1-866-552-4464, option 3, or online, and call 911 if someone is in immediate danger. The DOJ Elder Fraud Hotline (833-372-8311) also helps with fraud against anyone 60 or older.

Can a Georgia bank freeze a transaction if it suspects elder fraud?

Yes, since July 1, 2026. HB 945 lets a bank place an optional hold of up to 15 business days, extendable by 15 more, when it suspects exploitation of a person 65 or older or a disabled adult (O.C.G.A. sections 7-1-239.12 and 7-1-239.14).

Does Georgia regulate crypto ATMs?

The Department of Banking and Finance said in 2023 that most kiosk operators in Georgia need a money transmitter license. HB 945, in effect since July 1, 2026, added daily limits of $2,500 for new and $10,000 for existing customers, an 18 percent fee cap and narrow refund rights.

What is the small claims limit in Georgia?

Magistrate courts hear civil claims where the amount demanded does not exceed $15,000 (O.C.G.A. section 15-10-2(a)(5)). A 2026 law (HB 999) raises the limit to $25,000 on January 1, 2027.