Quick answer

If you paid an advance fee for a promised loan that was never released, report it immediately in this order:

Contact the bank, e-wallet, card issuer, or remittance provider used to pay. Use its official 24/7 fraud channel—not a number supplied by the supposed lender. Ask it to trace the payment, protect your account, and assess whether the funds can be temporarily held or recovered. Get a case reference number.
Report the scam to the NBI or PNP. An online platform report or bank complaint is not a substitute for a criminal complaint.
Report the supposed lender to the proper regulator. Lending and financing companies and their online platforms generally fall under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); banks and e-wallet providers are supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Preserve every message, receipt, account number, advertisement, document, and digital identifier.
Do not pay another “release,” “verification,” “tax,” “insurance,” “AML,” “cancellation,” or “refund-processing” fee.

Prompt reporting matters. Under BSP Circular No. 1215, disputed funds in qualifying electronic fund transfers may initially be held for up to five calendar days and, when the required grounds and documents exist, for up to 25 additional calendar days. This is not an automatic refund, and it may be ineffective if the money has already been withdrawn or moved outside the covered financial system.

What is an advance-fee loan scam?

The usual pattern is simple: someone claims that a loan has been approved, then demands money before releasing it. The fee may be described as a processing charge, security deposit, insurance premium, tax, account activation fee, credit-score repair fee, notarial fee, or refundable guarantee. After payment, the “lender” disappears or invents another charge.

An upfront charge is not automatically fraudulent. Legitimate lenders may impose properly disclosed appraisal, registration, insurance, or other charges depending on the product. The warning signs are stronger when:

Approval is guaranteed without a genuine assessment.
The lender pressures you to pay immediately.
Payment must be sent to a personal bank or e-wallet account, changing account, crypto wallet, or unrelated third party.
The lender communicates only through social media or a private messaging app.
The supposed loan agreement contains inconsistent names, addresses, logos, or government registration details.
You are told that the fee is refundable but no clear written terms are provided.
The lender demands an OTP, password, PIN, card security code, remote-access installation, or control of your screen.
A new fee appears every time you comply.
The lender claims that the SEC, BSP, BIR, AMLC, court, or another agency requires payment through the lender’s personal account.

Before paying anything, independently contact the institution through the number or website you locate yourself. For a lending or financing company, check both its corporate identity and its authority to conduct lending or financing activities through Check with SEC. Mere SEC corporate registration is not the same as a Certificate of Authority to operate as a lending or financing company. The requirement for lending companies is found in the Lending Company Regulation Act of 2007.

First: report the payment to your financial provider

Contact the provider from which the money was sent. If several transfers were made, report every transaction.

Tell the provider:

You were induced by a fraudulent loan offer to send an advance fee.
The transaction date, time, amount, transaction or reference number, and payment channel.
The recipient’s account or wallet number and displayed name.
Whether you disclosed credentials, an OTP, identification documents, or remote access to your device.
Whether further transactions are pending or unauthorized.
That you want the transaction traced and assessed under its fraud process and, where applicable, the temporary-holding rules under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act.

Ask for:

A complaint or fraud-case reference number.
Written acknowledgment of the report.
Confirmation of any hold, trace, recall, or recovery request.
The name of the receiving financial institution, if available and lawfully disclosable.
Instructions and the deadline for submitting a sworn complaint, affidavit, police report, or other supporting documents.
Immediate restrictions or replacement of compromised accounts, cards, credentials, or devices.

The five-day initial holding period

Under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act, Republic Act No. 12010 and BSP Circular No. 1215:

A covered institution must maintain a 24/7 fraud-reporting channel.
Qualifying disputed funds may be held initially for no more than five calendar days.
Supporting documents for an extended hold ordinarily must be submitted during that initial period, subject to the applicable industry protocol and exceptions.
An extended hold may last up to 25 more calendar days.
Only a competent court may extend the total hold beyond 30 calendar days.

These rules generally concern electronic transfers from one financial account to another. They do not govern an incorrectly encoded transfer as a scam transaction, and they generally exclude ordinary credit-card purchases unless the card was used for an electronic fund transfer through an automated clearing house. Cash payments, cryptocurrency transfers, and some remittance arrangements may require different procedures.

A temporary hold merely preserves funds while institutions verify the transaction. It does not establish criminal guilt, guarantee recovery, or create an automatic right to reimbursement. Whether an institution must return money depends on the transaction, available funds, security controls, evidence, applicable rules, and findings in the case.

Secure your accounts and identity

If you shared credentials or allowed access to your phone or computer:

Use the provider’s official app or website to change passwords and PINs.
Activate any account lock, card freeze, kill switch, transaction limit, and multi-factor authentication available.
Sign out unknown devices and revoke unfamiliar app permissions.
Call your mobile provider immediately if your SIM stopped working or you suspect a SIM swap.
Remove remote-access software after recording its name and preserving relevant evidence.
Check recent transactions and statements across all linked accounts.
Warn your contacts if the scammer gained access to your messaging or social-media account.

Do not wipe or factory-reset a relevant device before consulting investigators if it contains the only copy of important evidence. Secure it, stop further access, and preserve the data.

If an identification card, selfie, signature, or other personal information is later misused or unlawfully disclosed, you may also consider a complaint with the National Privacy Commission. A privacy complaint is separate from reporting the scam to law enforcement.

Report the crime to law enforcement

You do not need to discover the scammer’s true name before reporting. Account numbers, telephone numbers, usernames, profile links, transaction records, email addresses, IP-related records obtainable through legal process, and the recipient institution can give investigators leads.

National Bureau of Investigation

You may approach the NBI Cybercrime Division or an appropriate NBI regional or district office. The NBI’s current Cybercrime Division Citizen’s Charter provides for a complaint sheet, preliminary interview, sworn statement or prepared affidavit, submission of supporting documents, and examination of a relevant device when necessary. It lists no fee for investigative assistance.

The NBI also maintains an online complaint page and an office locator. If an online submission does not produce clear filing instructions or a reference number, contact or visit the appropriate office.

Philippine National Police

You may report to the nearest police station or PNP anti-cybercrime unit. Ask how to execute a complaint-affidavit or sworn statement and obtain the report, blotter, or case reference number. Make clear that the matter involves a fraudulent loan offer and identify the electronic platform and payment method used.

CICC National Anti-Scam Hotline

For anti-scam assistance and referral, contact the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center through 1326 or 1326@dict.gov.ph, as identified by the Department of Information and Communications Technology. Follow through with the NBI or PNP when a formal criminal investigation or sworn complaint is required.

If the scammer threatens immediate physical harm, stalking, or violence, call the nationwide Unified 911 emergency hotline.

What evidence should you preserve?

Keep the original electronic files whenever possible. A cropped screenshot may omit the date, URL, account identity, or surrounding conversation investigators need.

Preserve:

The complete chat or email thread, including voice messages and attachments.
Screenshots and screen recordings showing the profile, username, page URL, advertisement, and date.
Email files and full headers, not just printed message text.
Call logs, telephone numbers, SMS messages, and voicemail.
The loan advertisement, application form, approval notice, contract, disclosure statement, and payment instructions.
Every payment receipt, transaction reference number, QR code, recipient account or wallet number, displayed account name, amount, date, and time.
Copies of documents and information you sent to the scammer.
The names of witnesses and what they personally observed.
The scammer’s later demands, excuses, threats, and refund promises.
Your complaints to the provider, platform, SEC, NBI, PNP, or CICC and all reference numbers and replies.

Export conversations where the app permits it. Keep at least two secure copies. Do not edit the originals, fabricate missing messages, impersonate another victim, or continue engaging merely to conduct your own entrapment.

How to write the incident narrative

Use a short chronological account based on facts:

State when and where you saw the loan offer.
Identify the page, account, number, or person that contacted you.
Describe the promised loan amount and terms.
Quote or accurately summarize the representation that caused you to pay.
List each fee requested and the stated reason.
Identify each payment and recipient account.
Explain what happened after payment and why you concluded that the offer was fraudulent.
State whether you shared credentials, identification, or device access.
List the actions already taken and their reference numbers.
Attach a numbered evidence index.

Avoid guessing the scammer’s identity or stating unverified accusations as established facts. Say what was represented, what you relied on, what you paid, and what evidence supports each point.

Report the supposed lender to the regulator

Lending or financing company, online lending app, or platform

Submit the information through the SEC’s iMessage portal. Include the exact corporate name claimed, app or platform name, website and profile links, SEC registration or Certificate of Authority number used, recipient accounts, payment demands, and supporting evidence.

The SEC report is particularly important if the operation appears unlicensed or is impersonating a registered company. Also notify the genuine company through independently verified contact details. An SEC administrative report does not replace a criminal complaint to the NBI or PNP.

Bank, e-wallet, or other BSP-supervised institution

First complain through the institution’s Financial Consumer Protection Assistance Mechanism or official customer-service channel. If its response is unsatisfactory or it fails to act, escalate through the BSP Consumer Assistance Mechanism. The BSP explains this first-level requirement and its channels on its consumer-assistance page.

Complaints may be submitted through the BSP Online Buddy on the BSP website or, if that is unavailable, through the prescribed complaint form sent to consumeraffairs@bsp.gov.ph with proof that the concern was first raised with the institution. Do not send PINs, passwords, complete card numbers, passbooks, passports, or unnecessary identification documents. The BSP’s current procedure is summarized in its official complaint guide.

BSP consumer assistance is a second-level redress mechanism concerning supervised institutions. It is not a substitute for reporting the scammer to law enforcement.

What laws may apply?

The final offense and responsible persons depend on the evidence. An advance-fee loan scheme may constitute estafa by false pretenses under Article 315(2)(a) of the Revised Penal Code when a prior or simultaneous false representation causes the victim to part with money and suffer damage. The Supreme Court has described those elements in Joson v. People.

If the offense was committed through information and communications technology, relevant provisions of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 may apply. The Act also requires service providers to preserve traffic data and subscriber information for at least six months from the transaction; content data is preserved for six months after a lawful preservation order. This is another reason to report promptly.

Republic Act No. 12010 may separately apply to money-mule activity, deceptive acquisition of sensitive account information, and related financial-account offenses. Whether these or other laws apply is for investigators, prosecutors, and ultimately the courts to determine.

Common mistakes to avoid

Paying another fee in the hope of recovering the first payment.
Calling a “customer-service” number supplied by the scammer.
Treating a social-media verification badge, business permit image, or SEC registration screenshot as proof of lending authority.
Deleting chats, blocking the account, or reporting the page before saving evidence.
Posting complete account numbers, IDs, receipts, or personal data publicly.
Reporting only to the social-media platform and assuming a criminal case has been opened.
Waiting for the scammer to keep a promised refund.
Omitting small transfers; they may show the full transaction chain.
Filing a knowingly false or exaggerated report. Republic Act No. 12010 penalizes malicious reporting that results in the temporary holding of funds.
Assuming that a police report, bank complaint, SEC report, and BSP escalation perform the same function. They address different parts of the problem.

When legal help is urgent

Consult a Philippine lawyer promptly if:

The loss is substantial or involves several victims.
The provider rejected the dispute or attributed the transaction entirely to you.
Funds, property, or accounts have been frozen in connection with the investigation.
Your identity was used to obtain loans, open accounts, or recruit other victims.
You are being accused of acting as a money mule.
The scammer is threatening violence, exposure of private material, or harm to your family.
The scheme involves a business account, employee, overseas recipient, cryptocurrency, or several financial institutions.
You need to prepare a formal complaint-affidavit, pursue civil recovery, or seek a court order before the temporary holding period expires.

Frequently asked questions

I authorized the transfer. Can I still report it?

Yes. A transfer may have been technically authorized but induced by deception. Tell the provider exactly how consent was obtained. The provider will determine which fraud, dispute, or temporary-holding rules apply; voluntary entry of an OTP does not prevent you from reporting a possible crime.

Will the bank or e-wallet automatically return my money?

No. A report can trigger tracing, verification, and possibly a temporary hold, but recovery depends on whether funds remain, the transaction type, the institutions involved, the evidence, and any applicable liability rules.

Is five days the deadline for filing a criminal complaint?

No. Five calendar days is the maximum initial holding period under BSP Circular No. 1215, not a universal deadline for criminal complaints. Nevertheless, report immediately because supporting documents may be needed during that period and digital or financial evidence can become harder to preserve.

Can I report even if I did not pay?

Yes. Preserve the offer and report the account, advertisement, or unlicensed lending activity to the platform, SEC, CICC, NBI, or PNP as appropriate. Clearly state that it was an attempted scam and that no loss occurred.

What if the account name belongs to someone other than the scammer?

Report it anyway. The account may belong to a money mule, an identity-theft victim, an accomplice, or an innocent person whose account was compromised. Do not publicly accuse the named account holder; give the details to the provider and investigators.

Should I contact the receiving bank myself?

You may report through its official fraud channel, but your own provider should initiate the inter-institution trace and verification process. Do not contact the recipient or use contact information supplied by the scammer.

Can the SEC recover my payment?

An SEC complaint may support regulatory action against an unauthorized or noncompliant lender, but it does not guarantee restitution. Report the payment to the financial provider and the suspected crime to law enforcement as separate steps.

This article provides general Philippine legal information, not legal advice for a particular case. Procedures and available remedies depend on the transaction, documents, institutions, and facts. Official sources and procedures were checked as of 4 August 2026.