Quick answer

If someone promised you a loan but demanded a “processing fee,” “insurance,” “tax,” “clearance,” “verification deposit,” or similar payment before releasing the money—and the loan never arrived—stop paying and report the transaction immediately.

If you already sent money:

Contact the fraud channel of the bank, e-wallet, or financial institution from which you paid. Ask it to treat the transfer as a disputed transaction, trace the funds, and initiate any available temporary hold.
Report the scam to the NBI Cybercrime Division, a police anti-cybercrime unit, or the nearest police station.
Report anyone posing as a lending or financing company to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Preserve the complete conversation, advertisements, account details, receipts, and electronic records.
Secure your accounts and identity if you shared passwords, one-time PINs, identification documents, selfies, or access to your phone.

Reporting quickly does not guarantee recovery, particularly if the money has been withdrawn or transferred again. It can, however, improve the chance of tracing or holding funds and help authorities connect complaints involving the same operation.

Act immediately if you sent money

Contact the paying bank or e-wallet first

Use the institution’s official app, website, hotline, or branch—not a contact number supplied by the supposed lender.

Tell the fraud team that:

You transferred money because of a fraudulent loan offer.
The promised loan was not released.
The recipient obtained the payment through false representations.
You want the transaction recorded as disputed and urgently traced.
You are requesting any available temporary hold and coordinated verification with the receiving institution.

Provide the transaction reference number, date and time, amount, recipient name, recipient account or wallet number, receiving institution, and a short explanation of the deception. Ask for a case or complaint reference number.

For qualifying electronic account-to-account transfers, BSP Circular No. 1215 allows a complaint to trigger the temporary-holding and coordinated-verification process under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act. The initial hold may last up to five calendar days. It may be extended by up to 25 more calendar days when the required grounds exist, for a total of no more than 30 calendar days unless a competent court orders a further extension. A hold is not automatic: the institution must identify disputed funds and have reasonable grounds under the rules. It also cannot hold money that has already left the financial system. See the BSP’s AFASA rules and Circular No. 1215.

Submit supporting documents promptly. The rules generally require the source account owner to provide a sworn complaint, affidavit, police report, or other supporting document within the initial holding period when an extended hold is sought, subject to the applicable industry protocol. Do not assume that an initial phone call is enough.

The temporary-holding rules apply to covered electronic transfers between financial accounts. Ordinary credit-card purchases, erroneous transfers, cash payments, and some remittance transactions follow different rules. Nevertheless, contact the card issuer, remittance company, cash-out provider, or other payment service immediately and ask whether payment cancellation, dispute, chargeback, recall, or recipient-account review is available.

Secure the source account

If the scammer obtained account credentials, an OTP, PIN, card details, or remote access to your device:

Call the financial institution from a different, trusted device.
Lock affected cards and accounts or disable online access.
Change the email and financial-account passwords from a clean device.
Sign out unknown sessions and remove unfamiliar linked devices.
Contact your mobile provider if your SIM stopped working unexpectedly or you suspect a SIM-swap attempt.
Disconnect a compromised phone from the internet until it can be safely checked.
Remove remote-access software only after recording its name and preserving evidence of how it was installed.

Never give an OTP or PIN to a caller who claims it is needed to reverse the transfer. A second caller offering guaranteed recovery for another fee may be part of the same operation.

Where to report the scam

Different offices handle different parts of the problem. Filing with one does not necessarily replace the others.

NBI, police, or anti-cybercrime investigators

Report the incident to the NBI Cybercrime Division, a police anti-cybercrime unit, or the nearest police station when money was obtained by deception, the scam was conducted online, identities or documents were falsified, or threats followed the payment.

The NBI provides an online complaint channel and accepts requests for investigative assistance through its Cybercrime Division and regional cybercrime offices. Its published procedure includes an initial interview, a sworn complaint sheet or statement, supporting documents, and—when relevant—examination of the device used in the transaction. Review the NBI Cybercrime Division’s official procedure.

Bring or prepare:

A valid government-issued ID
A chronological account of what happened
The scammer’s names, aliases, phone numbers, usernames, email addresses, websites, and profile links
The recipient’s name, account or wallet number, institution, and QR code
Transaction receipts and reference numbers
Advertisements, supposed approvals, contracts, IDs, permits, and certificates sent by the scammer
Complete chats, emails, text messages, call logs, and voice recordings lawfully in your possession
Your bank or e-wallet complaint reference
Names and contact details of witnesses or other victims, if known

An online report or police record is useful, but investigators may still require your personal appearance, sworn statement, original device, or additional records. Ask what is needed to turn the report into a formal investigation or complaint.

Securities and Exchange Commission

Report the operation to the SEC if the person or app:

Claims to be a lending or financing company;
Uses the name or logo of a legitimate lender;
Offers loans to the public without a verifiable authority;
Operates an online lending platform;
Uses false SEC registration or Certificate of Authority details; or
Engages in deceptive or abusive conduct connected with a supposed loan.

A lending company cannot conduct lending business without SEC authority under the Lending Company Regulation Act of 2007. Merely producing an SEC registration number does not establish authority to lend. A company may be incorporated but lack the required Certificate of Authority, and scammers may impersonate a genuinely licensed company.

Use Check with SEC and independently confirm the exact corporate name and authority. Compare the website, email domain, telephone number, app, payment beneficiary, and Certificate of Authority number—not just the logo or trade name. The SEC requires lending and financing advertisements and online platforms to disclose specified registration and authority information; its enforcement decisions also recognize that unauthorized lending may be stopped without prejudice to criminal action. See the SEC’s ruling on unauthorized online lending operators.

Complaints concerning financing and lending companies may be submitted through the SEC iMessage ticketing system. Choose the service for complaints on financing and lending companies and retain the ticket number.

Operating a lending company without a valid SEC authority may be punishable under Republic Act No. 9474 by a fine of ₱10,000 to ₱50,000, imprisonment from six months to ten years, or both, at the court’s discretion. Other criminal or administrative liability may apply depending on the conduct proved.

BSP and the financial institution’s complaints mechanism

The BSP is relevant when the complaint concerns the actions of a BSP-supervised bank, e-money issuer, payment provider, or other supervised institution. It is not the primary regulator of an unlicensed person merely pretending to be a lender.

First report the issue to the institution’s Financial Consumer Protection Assistance Mechanism. For a disputed transfer, use its 24/7 fraud-reporting channel immediately. If you are dissatisfied with the institution’s response, escalate through the BSP Online Buddy and Consumer Assistance Mechanism.

If you cannot use the chatbot, the BSP permits submission of its complaint form and supporting documents to consumeraffairs@bsp.gov.ph. Include the complaint filed with the institution, its response if any, the outcome requested, and your contact details.

Do not wait for the BSP escalation process before approaching law enforcement. Regulatory consumer assistance and criminal investigation serve different purposes.

CICC’s National Anti-Scam Hotline

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center operates the National Anti-Scam Hotline 1326. This can be used to report or seek assistance with online scams and to help route the incident to the appropriate authorities. DICT also publishes 1326@dict.gov.ph as a contact channel. See the DICT’s official contact information.

A hotline report should supplement—not replace—an urgent notice to the payment provider and a sworn complaint when investigators require one.

National Privacy Commission

Report to the National Privacy Commission when the supposed lender improperly collected, disclosed, used, or threatened to publish personal data—for example:

Harvesting your phone contacts;
Posting your ID or selfie;
Contacting unrelated people using information taken from your device;
Using your documents for another account or loan;
Publicly shaming or threatening you with personal information; or
Refusing to address an actionable data-privacy complaint.

A formal NPC complaint must follow the prescribed form, be notarized, and include supporting evidence. The NPC accepts filing in person, by courier, or by scanned email as described on its formal-complaint page. Data-privacy proceedings do not replace a report for estafa or a request to trace transferred funds.

The platform, telco, or hosting provider

After preserving the evidence, report the profile, advertisement, app, website, phone number, and QR code through the relevant platform’s official reporting tools. If the approach came by text, report the number to your telecommunications provider through its official scam or spam channel.

Platform reports can help remove fraudulent content but do not constitute a criminal complaint and may not preserve evidence indefinitely.

What your written account should contain

Write a clear timeline using exact dates, times, amounts, and words used. Avoid conclusions you cannot support. Describe what you personally saw, heard, sent, and received.

A useful account normally answers:

Where and when did you see the loan offer?
What name, company, app, or government authority did the person claim to represent?
What loan amount and terms were promised?
What representation caused you to believe the offer was genuine?
What fee was demanded, and what reason was given?
Where, when, and how did you send the money?
What happened after payment?
Were additional fees demanded?
Was the loan ever released?
What documents, credentials, or device access did you provide?
What steps did you take with the bank, e-wallet, platform, SEC, or police?
What assistance are you requesting?

State separately what you know and what you suspect. For example: “The recipient name shown on my receipt was ___” is stronger than assuming that the named account holder personally operated the scam.

Evidence to preserve

Keep original electronic records whenever possible. Screenshots are useful, but they should not be the only copies.

Preserve:

Full-page screenshots showing usernames, URLs, dates, and times
Original text messages and complete chat exports
Emails with headers, not only printed message bodies
Advertisements and the page or profile where they appeared
App names, download links, package details, and requested permissions
Call logs, voicemail, and recordings lawfully obtained
Payment receipts, transaction histories, QR codes, and reference numbers
Recipient account names and numbers exactly as displayed
Fake contracts, loan approvals, IDs, SEC papers, receipts, tax demands, and permits
Files in their original format, including metadata where available
Bank, e-wallet, SEC, platform, CICC, NBI, and police reference numbers
A written timeline prepared while events are fresh

Make at least two secure copies. Do not edit original files, crop away identifying information, delete the conversation, reset the affected device, or surrender the only copy of evidence. If an investigator needs the device, ask how it will be received, documented, and returned.

Redact account numbers, IDs, addresses, and signatures before posting anything publicly. Give unredacted copies only through verified official channels.

What law may apply

An advance-fee loan scheme can amount to estafa by false pretenses when the evidence proves that a false representation or fraudulent means existed before or at the time of the fraud, the victim relied on it and parted with money or property, and damage resulted. These are factual elements; failure to release a loan or perform a promise does not by itself prove a crime in every case. The Supreme Court explains the elements of estafa by deceit in Montano v. People.

If the offense was committed through information and communications technology, Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 may apply and provides for a penalty one degree higher for crimes covered by that provision. The investigator, prosecutor, and court—not the complainant or platform—determine the proper charge based on the evidence.

Other possible issues include:

Unauthorized lending under Republic Act No. 9474;
Falsification or use of false documents;
Computer-related identity theft or illegal access;
Misuse of financial accounts under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act;
Data-privacy violations; and
Violations of financial-consumer-protection rules by a regulated provider.

Not every advance charge is automatically fraudulent. A legitimate provider may impose a properly disclosed fee allowed by law and the governing agreement. Before a credit transaction is consummated, the true cost and applicable charges must be clearly disclosed as required by credit and financial-consumer-protection rules. A demand to pay an undisclosed fee into an individual account, repeated new fees after “approval,” refusal to provide verifiable authority, or a promise of guaranteed release after one last payment strongly warrants verification and reporting.

Deadlines, holding periods, and claim limits

Do not delay while trying to negotiate with the scammer. Different remedies have different time limits:

For a qualifying electronic transfer, an initial AFASA hold is limited to five calendar days. Supporting documents for a possible extension should generally be submitted within that initial period.
An extended hold may last up to 25 additional calendar days, with the combined administrative holding period capped at 30 calendar days. Only a competent court may extend it further.
Claims under the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act generally prescribe five years from consummation of the financial transaction or five years from discovery of deceit or material nondisclosure, subject to an absolute ten-year limit from the violation. This applies to claims under that Act and does not establish the deadline for every possible criminal or civil case. See Republic Act No. 11765.
The BSP and SEC may adjudicate qualifying actions against supervised providers that are purely civil and seek only payment or reimbursement not exceeding ₱10 million. Jurisdiction still depends on the respondent, transaction, relief, and governing rules.
Estafa and other offenses have separate prescription and procedural rules that depend on the charge and facts.

Report now even if significant time has passed. A lawyer can assess prescription, venue, available civil remedies, and whether urgent court relief is still possible.

Common mistakes to avoid

Paying another fee because the scammer promises it is the “last requirement”
Accepting an image of an SEC certificate without independent verification
Assuming that a registered corporate name proves authority to lend
Contacting the supposed lender through the same number used in the offer
Waiting several days before informing the bank or e-wallet
Reporting only to the social-media platform
Sending evidence only as cropped screenshots
Deleting the app, chat, email, or device data before preserving it
Publicly posting unredacted IDs or account information
Exaggerating facts or naming people whose participation is unverified
Treating a police record as a substitute for any sworn complaint investigators require
Paying a person who promises guaranteed recovery, account unfreezing, or special access to investigators

When help is urgent

Seek immediate assistance from the financial institution and law enforcement if:

Funds were transferred within the last few hours;
The scammer still appears to be communicating or moving money;
Your account, email, SIM, or device has been taken over;
You provided an OTP, PIN, password, biometric image, or remote-access permission;
Your ID is being used to open accounts or obtain loans;
The scammer is threatening violence, blackmail, or publication of intimate or personal material;
You are being told to receive or forward money for other borrowers;
A large amount, business funds, retirement money, or borrowed money is involved; or
Multiple victims or accounts appear to be connected.

If there is an immediate threat to personal safety, contact emergency police services or go to the nearest police station. Do not arrange a private confrontation or entrapment without law-enforcement guidance.

Frequently asked questions

Can I report the scam if I did not send money?

Yes. Report the advertisement, profile, number, app, and documents to the SEC, the platform, and an appropriate cybercrime reporting channel. Preserve the attempted solicitation. If you disclosed sensitive data, secure your accounts and consider a privacy or identity-theft report.

Can the bank automatically reverse my transfer?

No. A transfer induced by fraud is not automatically reversed merely because it was reported. The institution must follow applicable rules, verify the transaction, trace the funds, and respect the rights of affected account owners. Recovery may be impossible if the funds have been withdrawn or moved beyond reach.

Should I contact the recipient’s bank or e-wallet?

You may notify its official fraud channel if the institution is identifiable, but your own institution should be the first contact because it holds your source-account records and can initiate the coordinated process. Do not expect the receiving institution to disclose confidential information about its customer.

The company appears in SEC records. Does that mean the offer is genuine?

No. Verify that it has the specific authority required for lending or financing and that the app or website actually belongs to it. Scammers frequently use the names, logos, documents, and employee identities of legitimate companies.

Is a processing fee always illegal?

Not necessarily. The issue is whether the provider is genuine and authorized, the charge is lawful and clearly disclosed, and the payment is part of an actual credit transaction. A secret or repeatedly changing fee paid to an unrelated personal account is materially different from a documented charge imposed by a verified provider.

Do I owe the scammer a loan repayment if no loan was released?

A fake fee payment does not by itself create a legitimate loan debt. However, if you signed documents with a real provider or received any proceeds, do not assume that no obligation exists without reviewing the records. Obtain legal advice if the supposed lender later asserts a debt.

Can I recover legal costs or damages?

That depends on the respondent, evidence, cause of action, and ability to locate assets. Regulatory redress, a civil action, and restitution in a criminal case have different requirements. A report does not guarantee an award or collection.

Do several victims need to file separately?

Each victim should preserve their own evidence and be prepared to execute a personal sworn statement. Tell investigators about the other victims and shared account details. Authorities can determine whether complaints should be coordinated or consolidated.

Where can I get legal help if I cannot afford a private lawyer?

Ask the Public Attorney’s Office whether you qualify for assistance, or approach an Integrated Bar of the Philippines legal-aid office or a recognized law-school legal clinic. Bring your timeline, evidence index, payment records, and existing complaint references.

This article provides general Philippine legal information, not legal advice or a prediction of any case outcome. Procedures and legal conclusions may depend on the transaction, documents, payment method, regulated entity, and evidence. Official sources and procedures were checked as of 4 August 2026.