Report suspected investment fraud through the New Mexico Securities Division’s complaint form. If you have already sent money, contact the bank, brokerage, payment service, or cryptocurrency exchange involved immediately. Reporting the scheme and trying to stop a payment are separate tasks; do both.
You do not need to solve the case before reporting it. Start with what happened, who contacted you, where the money went, and the records you have. Depending on the investment and how the fraud occurred, a federal regulator or the FBI may also be an appropriate reporting channel.
Act First to Prevent Another Loss
Contact your payment provider through its official app, a trusted statement, or the number on your card. Explain that you suspect investment fraud and ask whether it can stop, recall, reverse, or otherwise investigate the payment. Available options depend on the payment method and circumstances; asking for a refund does not guarantee one. The FTC’s instructions for people who paid a scammer cover bank transfers, cards, payment apps, wires, and cryptocurrency.
Describe the transaction accurately. If you approved a transfer because someone deceived you, say that. If someone accessed your account and transferred money without permission, explain that instead. Do not label an authorized payment “unauthorized” simply because the investment turned out to be fraudulent.
Stop sending money while you investigate. Do not make another deposit to meet a supposed withdrawal requirement, improve your account status, or qualify for reimbursement. Keep messages requesting those payments as part of your evidence.
If you shared account passwords, change them and any reused passwords, then turn on multifactor authentication. Tell the financial institution if someone had access to your account or device. Ask what further safeguards it recommends before you use that device for banking again.
Build a Clear Record of What Happened
Create one folder for your complaint, supporting records, and follow-up correspondence. Begin with a short timeline, then organize the evidence behind it. The CFTC’s steps after discovering fraud recommend preserving communications, account records, payment receipts, website addresses, and other details that identify the scheme.
Use a simple evidence index rather than uploading a collection of unexplained screenshots. Give files descriptive names and keep an unchanged copy of each original. A reviewer should be able to connect a payment in your timeline with its receipt without guessing which attachment matters.
| Record category | What to preserve | How to organize it |
|---|---|---|
| People and businesses | Names used, company names, phone numbers, email addresses, social profiles, and website addresses. | Separate what you verified from what the person claimed. |
| Payments | Statements, receipts, transfer confirmations, recipient details, and transaction references. | List each payment by date, amount, method, and destination. |
| Promises and instructions | Advertisements, contracts, emails, messages, and notes of conversations. | Connect each promise or instruction to the related payment. |
| Withdrawal problems | Withdrawal requests, rejection messages, account restrictions, and demands for further payments. | Record when you requested access to your money and what happened next. |
Keep facts and suspicions separate. “The caller said he worked for a registered investment firm” is different from “the caller worked for that firm.” Record the claimed affiliation without presenting it as verified.
If you need help describing the pitch, the guide to investment scams targeting New Mexico residents can help you recognize common patterns. Your complaint should still describe the actual conduct, not just attach a label such as “Ponzi scheme” or “crypto scam.”
Calculate the Money You Sent Separately From Displayed Profits
Prepare three figures: money paid into the arrangement, money actually returned, and any balance shown by the platform. Do not combine them.
For a hypothetical example, suppose you deposited $8,000, received $500 back, and later saw a $24,000 account balance. State all three amounts. Explain that $7,500 of your deposits remains unreturned, while identifying the $24,000 as a displayed balance rather than money you received. Let investigators and any lawyer advising you assess the appropriate loss calculation.
For cryptocurrency, record both the asset amount and any dollar value documented at the time. Avoid replacing the original transaction figures with a later market valuation without explaining the difference.
Complete the New Mexico Securities Complaint
The state form asks about the investor, the person or firm involved, incident dates, amounts invested and lost, witnesses, and other agencies notified. Attach supporting copies. If an answer is unknown, use “I don’t know” rather than guessing. A separate reporter section allows you to identify yourself when reporting for someone else.
For questions about filing, contact the Securities Division at 800-704-5533 or 505-476-4580.
Before submitting, check that names, dates, and amounts match your attachments. Save your narrative separately, along with whatever submission confirmation is available. If you are helping a relative, identify which events you witnessed and which details they told you.
Write a Short, Factual Complaint Narrative
A useful opening answers four questions: how contact began, what was offered, what you paid, and why you now suspect wrongdoing. Follow that opening with the timeline and supporting details.
“I am a New Mexico resident reporting a suspected investment scheme. On [date], a person using the name [name] contacted me through [method] and offered [investment]. Between [dates], I sent [amount] through [payment method] to [recipient]. I requested a withdrawal on [date]. The response was [response]. I have attached payment records and communications supporting this account.”
This is a writing framework, not an official form or legal statement. Replace the brackets with your facts and remove anything that does not apply. Quote a promise only if you can reproduce it accurately; otherwise, describe it as your recollection.
Choose Any Additional Reporting Channels That Fit
Use the nature of the conduct to choose another reporting channel. Do not assume that a complaint about an investment account, a securities enforcement tip, and an internet crime report serve the same purpose.
SEC: Suspected Securities Fraud
Use the SEC’s securities fraud reporting route for suspected securities violations, including fraudulent offerings, theft of investment funds, market manipulation, or misleading company statements. This route leads to the Tips, Complaints, and Referrals system, commonly called TCR. Online submissions receive a submission number; keep it with your records.
Explain the suspected misconduct rather than arguing that the investment performed badly. Identify the statement you believe was false, the money you believe was misused, or the transaction you question, then point to the supporting document.
SEC: Problems With an Account or Financial Professional
The SEC’s investor account complaint process is another route for problems involving an investment account or the firm or individual managing it. Account complaints can involve matters such as delivery of funds, fees, disclosures, or account handling.
A service complaint and an enforcement tip can overlap, but they are not interchangeable. Choose the route that matches your concern and explain any related submission you have already made. Keep the same core timeline across reports while answering each form’s questions.
FBI IC3: Online and Cyber-Enabled Investment Fraud
For fraud conducted through websites, messaging services, email, or other internet technology, use the complaint access provided in the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center’s filing instructions. IC3 accepts reports involving people in other countries and reports submitted on another person’s behalf.
Include transaction dates, amounts, recipient information, website addresses, and contact details used by the suspected fraudster. IC3 does not accept attachments, so retain your evidence securely for any investigating agency that requests it.
Save or print the completed IC3 report before leaving the confirmation page. IC3 states that it will not email you a copy. Its analysts review complaints and share information with appropriate agencies, but IC3 does not provide individual investigative status updates. For immediate danger, call 911; contact local law enforcement directly about urgent matters.
CFTC: Forex, Futures, and Other Commodity-Related Schemes
Suspected fraud involving foreign exchange, futures, options on futures, commodity pools, or binary options may also warrant a report through the CFTC’s tip and complaint channel. Describe the product as it was offered, even if you are unsure whether any actual trading occurred.
For example, distinguish between sending money to a real trading account and sending money to someone who claimed they would trade for you. Include the advertised product, the payment destination, and any account statements provided. Do not assume that the label on a platform settles which regulator should handle the matter.
Separate Reporting From Pursuing Repayment
If the problem involves a real brokerage firm, send a written complaint to its compliance department and retain the response. For suspected brokerage misconduct, FINRA is another reporting route. Its questions before filing an investor complaint distinguish regulatory reporting from efforts to recover money.
A disciplinary action does not assure repayment. FINRA also warns that relying only on its investigation may close other recovery options if you wait too long. Ask a securities lawyer promptly about available claims, arbitration provisions, and applicable deadlines rather than waiting for a regulator’s decision.
Bring your account agreement, timeline, payment records, correspondence, and complaint confirmations to that discussion. Ask what action the lawyer proposes, what it would cost, and how fees and expenses would be charged. Request the terms in writing before agreeing to representation.
A declining investment alone does not establish misconduct. Focus your complaint on evidence of deception, unauthorized activity, misuse of funds, or other conduct you question, not simply the fact that you lost money.
Track Follow-Up and Avoid Recovery Scams
The New Mexico Securities Division reviews complaints for possible violations and jurisdiction. If it opens an investigation, an assigned special agent may contact you. The division cannot act as your lawyer or promise to recover your money, and confidentiality has legal and investigative exceptions.
Keep a reporting log with the submission date, agency, reference number, documents supplied, and next action. When contacting an agency again, use its reference number and identify what is new. Follow that agency’s instructions for updates rather than repeatedly submitting the same material.
Be cautious about unexpected offers to retrieve your losses. The FTC’s warning about refund and recovery scams describes schemes that impersonate government agencies, law firms, or recovery organizations and demand payment before releasing supposed recovered funds.
Verify an unexpected contact through an independently obtained agency or firm number. Do not rely on caller ID, an official-looking letter, or the caller’s knowledge of your loss. Refuse requests for passwords, authentication codes, or payments presented as a condition of receiving a government refund.
Once the urgent reporting and account protection steps are underway, use the broader New Mexico investor protection guide to review future checks. For now, keep the task manageable: preserve the facts, submit clear reports, protect remaining funds, and get advice about recovery without waiting for an investigation to finish.