Nearly three in four scam victims say the experience hurt their mental health.
That number comes from a new report, *United States of Scams: The Financial and Emotional Fallout*, released by the Stop Scams Alliance and Gallup. Researchers surveyed 5,173 U.S. adults by web and mail between January 8 and February 18, 2026, drawing respondents from Gallup’s probability-based panel.
Seventy-three percent.
That is not a footnote. That is the story.
A second study backs it up. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance, in partnership with Iris Powered by Generali and Opinium, surveyed 3,110 U.S. adults between March 16 and April 13, 2026, for its State of Scams USA 2026 report. Fifty-nine percent of respondents who had been scammed said the experience affected their wellbeing. Only half of those who reported their losses ever saw money recovered or reimbursed. One in five adults who lost money to a scam ended up with reduced access to credit.
Two different research teams. Two different survey windows. The same conclusion.
Financial fraud does not end when the transaction does. The trauma outlasts the case number.
While prevention systems continue to evolve, recovery infrastructure has not kept pace. Many individuals are left navigating emotional recovery without clear pathways to support, often moving from institution to institution without knowing where to turn next.
The part the paperwork misses
Scam recovery is usually described in procedural terms. File a report. Contact your bank. Freeze your credit. Talk to a lawyer.
Those steps matter. But they are not the whole recovery.
Survivors describe something the forms don’t ask about. Shame. Hypervigilance. Grief. Self-blame. A quiet, corrosive isolation that can outlast the financial damage by months or years.
Half of victims never get their money back. And even for those who do, the emotional weight of having been targeted, deceived, and exploited does not resolve on the same timeline as a bank dispute.
This is why Give an Hour, together with SilverShield, developed the “After the Scam” series. It exists for the moment after the reporting is done and the harder work of healing begins. Financial fraud increasingly intersects with Give an Hour’s mission because survivors frequently experience emotional and psychological impacts that extend well beyond the financial event.
The hidden psychological impact of financial fraud
The first webinar in the After the Scam series focused on exactly this: the human impact behind the numbers.
“How much did you lose?” It is usually the first question asked of someone who has been targeted by a financial crime. It expects a number.
But a number cannot capture what happens next.
The After the Scam series asks us to zoom out, to look past the reporting and recovery process, and pay attention to what a person carries once the case is filed.
“If all we do is address the transaction, we’ve only addressed part of the problem,” said Ryan Young, Marketing & Communications Manager at Give an Hour.
Reporting a loss to law enforcement or a financial institution is a necessary step. But behind every transaction is a person, and that person may be carrying fear, anxiety, guilt, or embarrassment, some of the emotions survivors of financial cybercrime describe most often. Whatever your role, whether you are a friend, a family member, a case worker, or a fellow survivor, someone sharing their experience is an invitation to pause and really listen, not simply to move on to the next step.
Give an Hour has seen how often this toll goes unacknowledged. For many survivors, the transaction is only where the story begins. What follows is deeply psychological.
“The fraud experience is so much larger than the event itself,” said Rebekah Wilbur, Learning & Design Manager at Give an Hour. “It is deeply life-altering. It is psychologically traumatic for individuals who have been victims of fraud. They have experienced ongoing trauma and have a lot of shame around what they’ve been through.”
Give an Hour offers support and resources to support you with the journey. No one journey is alike.
During the session, Give An Hour representives shared the Financial Fraud Journey Map.
You can view the Financial Fraud Journey Map on Give an Hour’s website under the Financial Fraud page
Or order a free print copy by visiting the FINRA Investor Foundation website.
You are not the only one carrying this
If you have been scammed and you are still feeling the weight of it, the data says you are far from alone. Three out of every four people who go through this experience carry some lasting effect on their mental health.
Peer support exists precisely for that gap between investigators closing the case and the survivor feeling whole again. Talking with someone who has been where you are, without judgment and without having to explain the shame away first, can be the thing that makes the next step possible.
The After the Scam series is only the beginning. Give an Hour is continuing this work through Human Response, Community of Practice discussions, peer support, professional education such as, The Fraud Fallout, and cross-sector collaboration designed to strengthen recovery pathways for individuals impacted by financial fraud. Perhaps the first question after a scam shouldn’t be “How much did you lose?” but “How are you doing?”
If you have experienced financial fraud and are looking for that kind of support, we would like to help you find it.
Visit GiveAnHour.org for more information & sign up for our newsletter at GiveAnHour.org/Newsletter. To sign up for Peer Support Groups, visit GiveAnHour.Org/ContactUs.
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This Blog was written by Julia Lipscomb of Library of Cons.
Julia Lipscomb is a content writer and journalist focused on fraud prevention and cybersecurity education. She writes Library of Cons, a weekly newsletter covering anti-scam initiatives. Previously, Julia led internal communications on information security and HR at a global bank.
Give an Hour does not provide emergency services. For immediate help, call the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or text SIGNS to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. Both are free and available 24/7.
