Massachusetts Scam and Fraud Laws: Where to Report, How to Sue

Massachusetts law gives a person who was injured by an unfair or deceptive act in the conduct of trade or commerce a right to sue under the Consumer Protection Act, General Laws chapter 93A, section 9. A winner recovers actual damages or $25, whichever is greater, or two to three times that amount if the court finds a willful or knowing violation or a bad-faith refusal to settle, and a court must award reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Before suing you generally must mail or deliver a written demand at least 30 days ahead, and the deadline is four years.

The catch is that chapter 93A is aimed at unfair and deceptive practices "in the conduct of any trade or commerce." It clearly reaches a business that deceived you. The Supreme Judicial Court has held that chapter 93A reaches only acts "perpetrated in a business context" (Lantner v. Carson, 1978), so whether it reaches a stranger who simply tricked you out of money depends on the facts. Ask a Massachusetts lawyer before relying on it. Separately, stealing from or defrauding a person 60 or older is a crime, punishable by up to 10 years in state prison when the property is worth more than $250, and you can report the financial exploitation of an older adult to Adult Protective Services 24 hours a day.

Information last verified on October 2, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This guide covers Massachusetts state law: the Consumer Protection Act (General Laws chapter 93A), Massachusetts complaint offices, protections for adults 60 and older, the state's door-to-door sales and telemarketing disclosure rules, and Massachusetts court deadlines for suing. Federal refund and reporting rights are summarized briefly and covered in depth on our national guides. Out of scope: criminal defense, and the law of other states (if the scammer or business is elsewhere, that state's law may also matter).

First steps if you were scammed in Massachusetts

Call the bank, card issuer, payment app, wire company or crypto exchange that moved your money right away. That company is usually the only one that can stop or reverse a payment, and your federal rights depend on how you paid. Our guide on how to get money back after a scam goes through each payment method, and the Zelle and payment app guide covers app transfers.

Then report it. Most scams go to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and online crime to the FBI's IC3; our where to report a scam guide lists every federal channel. The Massachusetts offices below are in addition to those, not instead of them. If the scam started with a fake text, email or call, our phishing, smishing and vishing guide covers what to lock down next.

Where to report a scam in Massachusetts

The Attorney General's Office. The office's complaint page says, "File a complaint with the Attorney General's Office (AGO)." The Consumer Hotline at (617) 727-8400 is "staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday." The complaint form is also offered in Spanish (Formulario de Querella del Consumidor), Portuguese, Chinese and Haitian Creole. The office notes that "it may take one month for your complaint to appear in the AGO's publicly available database," so assume what you write can become public.

The office does not promise to resolve every complaint. Its own words are that it "can answer your questions, refer you to a wide network of consumer assistance services, or, in some cases, directly assist you in resolving your problem." Treat the complaint as a report that may help, not as a refund request.

The Division of Banks. It accepts complaints about "a problem with a financial product or service in Massachusetts," but it sends several kinds elsewhere. Complaints about federal and national banks (its examples are Bank of America, Citizens Bank and TD Bank) and credit card complaints go to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and complaints about federal credit unions go to the National Credit Union Administration. The Division will not get involved if you are represented by a lawyer or the matter is in litigation, and it cannot "Act as a court of law or as a lawyer on your behalf."

Massachusetts's consumer protection law: can you sue?

Sometimes. Chapter 93A has two parts that work together. Section 2(a) declares what is unlawful:

"Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful."

Section 9(1) then says who can sue over it:

"Any person, other than a person entitled to bring action under section eleven of this chapter, who has been injured by another person's use or employment of any method, act or practice declared to be unlawful by section two or any rule or regulation issued thereunder ... may bring an action in the superior court, or in the housing court ... for damages and such equitable relief, including an injunction"

Two conditions are built in. You must have been injured by the practice, and the practice must be one that section 2 makes unlawful, which means it happened "in the conduct of any trade or commerce." People who are themselves in business sue under a different section, section 11, which has its own rules. Section 9 speaks of "any person" who has been injured rather than a defined "consumer."

"Trade" and "commerce" are defined broadly in section 1(b). They include "the advertising, the offering for sale, rent or lease, the sale, rent, lease or distribution of any services and any property, tangible or intangible, real, personal or mixed ... and any other article, commodity, or thing of value wherever situate." A seller that took your money for a product it never shipped, a contractor, or a company that billed you on false pretenses are the kinds of cases the act's text most plainly describes.

A scam with no real sale behind it is harder. In Lantner v. Carson (1978), the Supreme Judicial Court held that section 2 applies only to acts or practices "perpetrated in a business context," and refused to apply chapter 93A to private individuals who sold their own home. Whether a fraudster's scheme meets that test depends on the facts, and a Massachusetts lawyer can tell you whether yours fit.

There is also an exemption. Section 3 says chapter 93A does not apply to "transactions or actions otherwise permitted under laws as administered by any regulatory board or officer acting under statutory authority of the commonwealth or of the United States," and the business claiming that exemption has the burden of proving it. Under section 9(7), a court can also pause a case for up to six months so a regulator can act.

The 30-day demand letter

Before you file, section 9(3) requires a written demand:

"At least thirty days prior to the filing of any such action, a written demand for relief, identifying the claimant and reasonably describing the unfair or deceptive act or practice relied upon and the injury suffered, shall be mailed or delivered to any prospective respondent."

The demand is not required for a counterclaim or cross-claim, or if the business "does not maintain a place of business or does not keep assets within the commonwealth." The business's answer matters. If it makes a written settlement offer within 30 days, you reject it, and a court later finds the offer "reasonable in relation to the injury actually suffered," your recovery can be limited to what was offered.

What you can recover

Section 9(3) sets the amount:

"recovery shall be in the amount of actual damages or twenty-five dollars, whichever is greater; or up to three but not less than two times such amount if the court finds that the use or employment of the act or practice was a willful or knowing violation of said section two or that the refusal to grant relief upon demand was made in bad faith with knowledge or reason to know that the act or practice complained of violated said section two."

So ordinary deception yields actual damages (at least $25). Double or triple damages need one of two findings: that the violation was willful or knowing, or that the business refused your demand in bad faith. When damages are multiplied, the base is "the amount of the judgment on all claims arising out of the same and underlying transaction or occurrence." Section 9 also allows equitable relief, including an injunction.

Attorney's fees

Fees are mandatory when you win. Under section 9(4), if the court finds a violation of section 2, "the petitioner shall, in addition to other relief ... and irrespective of the amount in controversy, be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs." There is one important limit: the court "shall deny recovery of attorney's fees and costs which are incurred after the rejection of a reasonable written offer of settlement made within thirty days of the mailing or delivery of the written demand."

Which court

A section 9 case can be brought in the superior court or the housing court. Section 9(3A) adds that a person "may assert a claim under this section in a district court ... for money damages only," and those damages "may include double or treble damages, attorneys' fees and costs." Under section 9(6), you do not have to first "initiate, pursue or exhaust" any administrative remedy, so you do not need to file an agency complaint before suing.

The deadline

General Laws chapter 260, section 5A, says actions for violations of consumer protection laws, including chapter 93A, "shall be commenced only within four years next after the cause of action accrues." When a claim accrues can be disputed, so do not wait.

The honest limit

A chapter 93A case needs a defendant you can identify, serve and collect from. That often works against a Massachusetts business, a contractor or an online seller with a real address. It usually does not work against an anonymous scammer who called from a spoofed number, used a fake identity or vanished with crypto, and a judgment does not help if nobody can be found to pay it.

Protections for older adults in Massachusetts

A crime against anyone who targets a person 60 or older. General Laws chapter 266, section 30(5) covers whoever "steals or with intent to defraud obtains by a false pretense ... the property of another, sixty years of age or older, or of a person with a disability." When the property is worth more than $250, the penalty is up to 10 years in state prison or up to two and one-half years in the house of correction, a fine of up to $50,000, or both. Whatever the value, the court may order restitution to be paid to the victim. The statute has no position-of-trust requirement, so it reaches a stranger as well as a relative or caregiver, and under section 30(6) police may arrest without a warrant when the value is over $250. Report a suspected crime to local police.

Financial exploitation is a reportable form of abuse. The protective services law, chapter 19A, section 14, treats "financial exploitation of an older adult" (someone 60 or older) as abuse. It defines financial exploitation as "an act or omission by another person, which causes a substantial monetary or property loss to an older adult, or causes a substantial monetary or property gain to the other person, which gain would otherwise benefit the older adult but for the act or omission of such other person." It applies to any other person, not only caregivers. There are exceptions: it does not cover something the older adult knowingly agreed to, unless that consent came from "misrepresentation, undue influence, coercion or threat of force," and it is not to be construed to apply to a business practice that chapter 93A section 2 makes unlawful (that is handled under chapter 93A).

How to report. Adult Protective Services is run by the Executive Office of Aging and Independence. Its page says: "You can report abuse and neglect of adults 60 or older either by phone at (800) 922-2275 or online anytime." The phone line is answered 24 hours a day, and if you want to stay anonymous the page says to call rather than file online. This route is for an adult who "Is 60 or older" and "Resides in Massachusetts and lives in the community, as opposed to a long-term care setting." For an adult with a disability under 60, the page points to the Disabled Persons Protection Commission at (800) 426-9009, and for abuse by nursing home or hospital staff, to the Department of Public Health at (800) 462-5540.

Who must report. Section 15(a) of chapter 19A lists mandated reporters, including physicians, nurses, social workers, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and directors and outreach workers of councils on aging. A mandated reporter who fails to report faces a "fine of not more than one thousand dollars," which is a penalty, not money for the victim. Bank employees are not on the section 15(a) list (we did not review whether other laws give financial institutions a duty), and under section 15(c) "any other person may make such a report," so a family member or a bank can still call.

Bank holds are only a proposal. Bills that would let banks and other financial institutions hold a transaction when they suspect an older or disabled customer is being exploited were pending as of October 2, 2026. H.5300, "An Act protecting vulnerable adults from financial exploitation," was ordered to a third reading in the House on April 23, 2026, and S.741, "An Act protecting seniors and adults with disabilities from financial exploitation," was last referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee on September 2, 2025, according to the Legislature's bill histories. Neither is law. Until something passes, tell the bank directly that you suspect a scam and report to Adult Protective Services.

For fraud against anyone 60 or older, the federal DOJ National Elder Fraud Hotline (833-372-8311) can also help you report; see where to report a scam.

Massachusetts scam laws on the books

Canceling a door-to-door or away-from-the-store sale

Chapter 93, section 48 covers a sale or lease of goods or services, primarily for personal, family or household use, worth more than $25 and made somewhere other than the seller's address. The buyer can cancel it "not later than midnight of the third business day following execution of the agreement." Section 48 also has rules that extend the cancellation period when the written agreement or the required terms are missing. If a pushy salesperson at your door pressured you into signing, this is the first thing to check.

What telemarketers must tell you

Chapter 159C, section 5A requires a telephone solicitor to disclose the purpose of the call, the company's name and the name of the ultimate seller "within the first minute" of the call and before requesting, accepting or arranging for payment. A caller who will not say who they are or what they are selling, but wants a card number, is a warning sign.

Crypto ATMs (virtual currency kiosks): a ban is pending, not law

A ban on crypto kiosks is pending in the Legislature. It is not law. The Senate passed its own version of H.5576, "An Act relative to economic development in the commonwealth," and the Senate's announcement describes an amendment (Amendment 374) "fully banning the operation of such kiosks in Massachusetts." On July 30, 2026, the House refused to accept the Senate amendment and a conference committee was appointed, and that is the last action on the Legislature's bill page as of October 2, 2026. If you lost money at a crypto kiosk, report it to the Attorney General and the FBI's IC3 and contact the kiosk operator right away.

On February 3, 2026, the Attorney General announced a lawsuit against kiosk operator Bitcoin Depot Inc. and Bitcoin Depot Operating LLC, alleging that the company used "misleading and deceptive sales tactics to overcharge consumers," knowingly facilitated crypto scams and refused refunds to scam victims. Those are allegations; the case was not resolved as of our research, and it is an enforcement action, not a claim process for individual victims. For more on crypto losses, see our crypto and investment scams guide.

Suing a scammer or a business in Massachusetts

Small claims. The state's court guidance describes small claims as "an informal and inexpensive forum to help you settle disputes of $7,000 or less" (the limit in General Laws chapter 218, section 21). It adds: "If you bring your claim under the Consumer Protection Law for $7,000 or less, but are awarded double or triple damages, a potential award exceeding $7,000 may be possible." Send your 30-day chapter 93A demand first.

Deadlines. A chapter 93A claim has four years (above). Tort actions generally must be brought "within three years next after the cause of action accrues" under chapter 260, section 2A. Which deadline applies to a particular scam claim depends on how it is framed, so ask a lawyer. If the person you are suing "fraudulently conceals the cause of such action," chapter 260, section 12 excludes the time before you discovered it. Whether any other discovery rule applies to your dates is a question for a Massachusetts lawyer. Our Massachusetts statute of limitations guide covers other civil deadlines.

Who you can actually reach. Lawsuits work against people and businesses with a name, an address and assets. A scammer hiding behind a fake identity, a spoofed caller ID or an overseas account is usually not reachable through a Massachusetts court. In those cases the payment company, a fast report to law enforcement, and protecting your identity are where your effort pays off. Our guide on when a lawyer helps after a scam explains which cases are worth a consultation.

Related guides

• Scams and fraud: your rights and where to start
• How to get money back after a scam
• Where to report a scam
• Elder fraud
• A scammer has my information
• Massachusetts identity theft laws
• Massachusetts debt collection laws
• Massachusetts statute of limitations

Last updated: October 2, 2026.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, contact your payment company, the Massachusetts office named above, or a lawyer licensed in Massachusetts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sue a scammer in Massachusetts?

Possibly, if you can identify and serve them. Chapter 93A, section 9 lets a person injured by an unfair or deceptive act in the conduct of trade or commerce sue, which clearly covers a deceptive business. The Supreme Judicial Court has held that chapter 93A covers only acts done in a business context (Lantner v. Carson, 1978), so whether it reaches an individual fraudster depends on the facts, and an anonymous or overseas scammer is usually not reachable through a Massachusetts court.

Does Chapter 93A give triple damages?

Only with a finding. Section 9(3) awards actual damages or $25, whichever is greater, and two to three times that amount if the court finds a willful or knowing violation or a bad-faith refusal of your written demand.

Do I need to send a 93A demand letter before suing?

Generally yes. Section 9(3) requires a written demand for relief, describing the practice and your injury, mailed or delivered at least 30 days before filing, unless the business has no place of business or assets in Massachusetts or your claim is a counterclaim.

Does Chapter 93A pay my attorney's fees?

If the court finds a violation, section 9(4) says you shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs, whatever the amount in controversy. Fees incurred after you reject a reasonable written settlement offer made within 30 days of your demand are denied.

How long do I have to file a Chapter 93A claim?

Four years after the cause of action accrues, under General Laws chapter 260, section 5A.

Will the Massachusetts Attorney General get my money back?

Do not count on it. The office says it can answer questions, refer you to other consumer services, or in some cases directly help resolve the problem. Contact your payment company first and file the complaint as well.

Who do I call if an elderly person in Massachusetts is being scammed?

Adult Protective Services takes reports about adults 60 or older living in the community at (800) 922-2275, 24 hours a day, or online. The DOJ National Elder Fraud Hotline (833-372-8311) also helps with fraud against anyone 60 or older.

Is defrauding an elderly person a crime in Massachusetts?

Yes. Under chapter 266, section 30(5), stealing from or obtaining by false pretense the property of a person 60 or older, when it is worth more than $250, is punishable by up to 10 years in state prison, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.

Can a Massachusetts bank freeze a transaction if it suspects elder fraud?

A bill to authorize such holds, H.5300, was pending in the Legislature as of October 2, 2026, and is not law. Tell the bank you suspect a scam and report to Adult Protective Services.

Are crypto ATMs banned in Massachusetts?

A statewide ban was pending, not law, as of October 2, 2026. The Senate added a ban to H.5576, and the bill went to a conference committee on July 30, 2026, according to the Legislature's bill page.

What is the small claims limit in Massachusetts?

$7,000. The state's guidance notes that a Consumer Protection Law claim of $7,000 or less can produce a larger award if damages are doubled or tripled.