Every bank, every government site, every news story tells you the same three things after a scam. Call your bank. Change your passwords. File a report.
Those are right. Do them first. Your bank is always the first call, because they own the clock on getting money back.
Then the phone calls end, the adrenaline fades, and you are sitting at the same computer wondering if it is safe to touch. That part nobody writes about. Here it is.
Day one: the computer stays off
If anyone had control of your screen, shut the computer down and leave it off. Use your phone for everything else for now. Do not "just check" one thing. Whatever they installed cannot run while the machine is off.
Day one or two: the passwords, in the right order
Change them from a different device than the one that was touched. Your phone is fine.
Email first. Your email is the master key, because every other password reset goes through it. Then the bank. Then anything with a card on file, like Amazon. Then everything else, as you think of it.
Write the new ones down on paper and keep the paper somewhere sensible. A notebook in a drawer beats a sticky note on the monitor, and both beat forgetting.
Day two or three: the computer, together
When it is time to turn the computer back on, do not do it alone. Have someone who knows what to look for on the phone or on the screen with you. That is the point I usually come in.
We check what was installed, remove what should not be there, and make sure nobody left themselves a way back in. Sometimes that takes twenty minutes. Sometimes the safest answer is a fresh start, and I will tell you which before we begin.
The rest of the week: the calls that come next
Scammers share lists. Expect follow-up calls, some of them claiming to be help. "We are calling about the fraud on your account." "We are the refund department." "We are the police investigating your case."
Hang up on every one of them. Your real bank, your real police department, and your real tech will never mind if you hang up and call back on a number you looked up yourself.
Something to know
This happens to sharp, careful people every single day. The people who run these scams do it for a living, and they are good at it. Being fooled once says nothing about you. What you do this week says everything.
The full first-hour checklist is on the scam help page. Bank first, then call me, and we go through the rest of it together.
Call (512) 893-7774. No bots. No runaround. Just real tech help.