North Carolina Scam and Fraud Laws: Where to Report, How to Sue

North Carolina's consumer protection law is unusually strong on damages. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. section 75-16, when a person injured by an unfair or deceptive act "in or affecting commerce" proves damages, the judgment "shall be rendered" for three times the amount the jury fixes. The tripling is written as automatic, not left to the jury's discretion. Attorney's fees are a different story: they are discretionary and depend on findings about the other side's conduct.

The state's complaint offices help, within limits. The North Carolina Attorney General takes scam complaints online and by phone (in English and Spanish) and mediates disputes with businesses, but the office says it "cannot file a lawsuit solely to recover money or property for you." North Carolina also makes it a felony to exploit someone 65 or older through deception, and requires financial institutions to report suspected exploitation of older and disabled adults.

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

Jurisdiction scope: This guide covers North Carolina state law: the unfair and deceptive practices statute (N.C. Gen. Stat. chapter 75), North Carolina complaint offices, protections for older and disabled adults, door-to-door sales and telemarketing rules, and North Carolina 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). Statute text quoted here comes from our statute library's copy of the North Carolina General Statutes, retrieved in July 2026, because the Legislature's website could not be reached when this page was prepared.

First steps if you were scammed in North Carolina

Call the bank, card issuer, payment app, wire company or crypto exchange that moved your money right away; that company is usually the one that can stop or reverse a payment. Your federal refund rights depend on how you paid, which our guide on how to get money back after a scam explains payment method by payment method. App transfers are covered in Zelle and payment app scams.

Then report it. Federal channels (the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3) are listed in where to report a scam. The North Carolina offices below are in addition to those, not a replacement. If the scammer got your Social Security number or account logins, see North Carolina identity theft laws too.

Where to report a scam in North Carolina

Be realistic about the Attorney General. Its complaint page says:

"Remember that our office can't give you legal advice or provide legal representation to individual consumers. We may file lawsuits if we determine a business or individual may have violated North Carolina's consumer protection laws and harmed consumers, but we cannot file a lawsuit solely to recover money or property for you."

Mediation still helps with a real business. The office says its process "helps open communication between consumers and businesses, encourages fair settlements, and aims to resolve issues without legal action," and that if it cannot find a resolution it may suggest small claims court or a private attorney. Against an anonymous scammer, a complaint is mainly a report that helps the office spot patterns.

North Carolina's consumer protection law: can you sue?

Possibly, if your situation meets the statute's conditions. Section 75-1.1(a) sets the rule:

"Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, are declared unlawful."

Section 75-16 gives the injured party the right to sue. Three conditions run through it: the act must be unfair or deceptive, it must be "in or affecting commerce," and you must have been injured by it. Section 75-1.1(b) defines "commerce" to include business activities but says it "does not include professional services rendered by a member of a learned profession." A party that claims an exemption carries the burden of proving it (section 75-1.1(d)).

How courts apply these conditions to a particular scam (for example, a one-off impostor rather than an ongoing business) depends on the facts and on North Carolina case law this page does not cover. A North Carolina lawyer can tell you whether your situation fits.

What you can recover: treble damages

The core of section 75-16 is mandatory tripling:

"such person, firm or corporation so injured shall have a right of action on account of such injury done, and if damages are assessed in such case judgment shall be rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant for treble the amount fixed by the verdict."

So if a jury fixes your damages at $4,000, the judgment is for $12,000. The word "shall" means the judge does not choose whether to triple. You still have to prove the injury and the amount, and a judgment is only worth what you can collect.

Attorney's fees are discretionary

Section 75-16.1 lets the judge award fees, but only in defined situations:

"the presiding judge may, in his discretion, allow a reasonable attorney fee to the duly licensed attorney representing the prevailing party ... upon a finding ... (1) The party charged with the violation has willfully engaged in the act or practice, and there was an unwarranted refusal by such party to fully resolve the matter ...; or (2) The party instituting the action knew, or should have known, the action was frivolous and malicious."

Two things follow. A winning victim gets fees only if the judge finds willful conduct plus an unwarranted refusal to resolve the matter, and even then the judge "may" award them. And the risk runs both ways: a person who brings a suit the court finds frivolous and malicious can be ordered to pay the other side's fees.

Our reading, not a statutory requirement: because fees can turn on an "unwarranted refusal" to resolve the matter, giving the business a clear written chance to make it right before you sue creates a record that can matter later.

The deadline

Section 75-16.2 says a claim under the chapter is "barred unless commenced within four years after the cause of action accrues." The statute also suspends the clock while certain Attorney General or district attorney proceedings are pending, and for one year afterward. Do not plan around that; start early.

Penalties the state collects, not you

In a lawsuit the Attorney General brings, the court may order "the restoration of any moneys or property and the cancellation of any contract obtained by any defendant" (section 75-15.1). Separately, section 75-15.2 allows a civil penalty of "up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation" when the acts were knowingly in violation of a statute or violated a court order. That penalty goes to the state's Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund, not to victims.

The honest limit

A section 75-16 case needs a defendant you can identify, serve and collect from. That often works against a North Carolina business, contractor or seller with a real address. It usually does not work against an anonymous scammer behind a spoofed number, a fake website or a crypto wallet, and treble damages on paper do not help if nobody can be found to pay.

Protections for older adults in North Carolina

It is a felony. Section 14-112.2 makes it a crime to knowingly, by deception or intimidation, obtain or use an older adult's (65 or older) or disabled adult's funds, assets or property with intent to deprive them of it. The felony class depends on who did it and how much was involved:

When more than $5,000 is involved, the district attorney may ask a court to freeze the defendant's assets, up to 150 percent of the value involved, so they are available for restitution (section 14-112.2(f), with the procedure in section 14-112.3). That is a prosecutor's tool in a criminal case, not a lawsuit a family files.

Financial institutions must report. Section 108A-115 says: "Any financial institution, or officer or employee thereof, having reasonable cause to believe that a disabled adult or older adult is the victim or target of financial exploitation shall report" it. The report goes to the people on the customer's trusted contact list (if any), local law enforcement, and, if the customer is a disabled adult, the county department of social services. Keeping a trusted contact list is "encouraged, but not required" (section 108A-114), so it is worth asking an older relative's bank whether one is on file.

Anyone must report a disabled adult in need. Under section 108A-102, "Any person having reasonable cause to believe that a disabled adult is in need of protective services shall report" to the county department of social services. That duty is written for disabled adults, not for every person over 65. NCDHHS still tells anyone concerned that an older adult or an adult with disabilities is being exploited to contact the local department of social services.

Banks may pause suspicious transactions. Since July 2, 2026, section 108A-117.1 (added by Session Law 2026-31, Senate Bill 595) lets a financial institution delay or refuse a disbursement or transaction from an older or disabled adult's account when it believes financial exploitation may have occurred or is being attempted, bases that belief on its own observation or information it received, and promptly starts an internal review. The delay ends after 30 business days, or sooner if the institution is satisfied the transaction will not likely result in exploitation or a court orders release, and the institution may extend it by up to an additional 30 business days. The law permits a hold but does not require one, and an institution must first adopt employee training policies or programs before using it.

For fraud against anyone 60 or older, the DOJ National Elder Fraud Hotline (833-372-8311) can help you report at the federal, state and local levels. Our elder fraud guide covers the national picture.

North Carolina scam laws on the books

Door-to-door sales: three business days to cancel

Under section 25A-39, a buyer in a home solicitation sale may cancel "until midnight of the third business day" after the sale. Section 14-401.13 makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor for a seller to fail to give the required written receipt and notice of cancellation, which must be "in the same language, e.g., Spanish, as that principally used in the oral sales presentation."

Do-not-call rules

North Carolina has its own telemarketing law (Article 51 of chapter 75). Section 75-102(a) says "no telephone solicitor shall make a telephone solicitation to a telephone subscriber's telephone number if the telephone subscriber's telephone number appears in the latest edition of the 'Do Not Call' Registry," and the article reaches telephone solicitors doing business in North Carolina even when they call from outside the state.

Crypto ATMs (virtual currency kiosks)

The Office of the Commissioner of Banks licenses and regulates money transmitters, so a problem with a crypto kiosk company can be reported there (see the table above). North Carolina has now enacted the Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Protection Act (Session Law 2026-45, House Bill 920), signed July 7, 2026. Its kiosk rules take effect on January 1, 2027. From that date, kiosk operators must be licensed as money transmitters, must limit transactions to $2,000 a day for a new customer and $5,000 a day for an existing customer, must place a 48-hour hold on every transaction by a customer whose first transaction occurred within the past seven days, and may not charge more than 12 percent in total fees, including the spread. Refunds are narrow: a new customer can get back the full amount deposited, and an existing customer only the operator's fees, and only if the person reported the fraud to the Commissioner of Banks within 30 days of the transmission and the Commissioner determines the transaction was fraudulent under procedures the Commissioner must adopt by January 1, 2027. A violation of the act is an unfair trade practice under section 75-1.1. Until January 1, 2027, none of these limits, holds or refund rights apply. For how kiosk and crypto scams work, see crypto and investment scams.

Suing a scammer or a business in North Carolina

Small claims. Under section 7A-210, a magistrate can hear a small claim where the amount in controversy "does not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000)" and the only principal relief sought is money, personal property or summary ejectment. The plaintiff requests assignment to a magistrate. The Attorney General's office itself may suggest small claims court when its mediation does not resolve a dispute.

Deadlines. A claim under the consumer protection statute has the four-year limit above. A common-law fraud claim has three years under section 1-52(9), and "the cause of action shall not be deemed to have accrued until the discovery by the aggrieved party of the facts constituting the fraud or mistake." Other time limits can apply, so ask a North Carolina lawyer how they fit your dates. Our North Carolina 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 or an overseas account is usually not reachable through a North Carolina court. There, your effort pays off with the payment company, a fast report to law enforcement, and protecting your identity. Our guide on when a lawyer helps after a scam covers when a case is worth bringing. If a collector is now chasing you over a scam-related debt, see North Carolina debt collection laws.

Related guides

• Scams and fraud: your rights and where to start
• How to get money back after a scam
• Where to report a scam
• Zelle and payment app scams
• Elder fraud
• North Carolina identity theft laws
• North Carolina debt collection laws
• North Carolina 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 North Carolina office named above, or a lawyer licensed in North Carolina.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sue a scammer in North Carolina?

Possibly, if you were injured by an unfair or deceptive act in or affecting commerce and you can identify and serve the person or business. N.C. Gen. Stat. section 75-16 gives an injured party a right of action, but an anonymous or overseas scammer is usually not reachable through a North Carolina court.

Does North Carolina award triple damages for unfair or deceptive practices?

Yes. Under section 75-16, if damages are assessed, judgment shall be rendered for treble the amount fixed by the verdict, so the tripling is automatic once you prove damages.

Will I get attorney's fees if I win a North Carolina consumer protection case?

Not automatically. Under section 75-16.1 the judge may award fees to the prevailing party, for example after finding the defendant acted willfully and unwarrantedly refused to fully resolve the matter. A plaintiff who brings a frivolous and malicious suit can be ordered to pay fees.

How long do I have to sue under North Carolina's consumer protection law?

Four years after the cause of action accrues, under section 75-16.2. A separate fraud claim generally has three years, counted from discovery of the facts constituting the fraud, under section 1-52(9).

Will the North Carolina Attorney General get my money back?

Do not count on it. The office mediates complaints and may sue over a pattern of illegal practices, but it says it cannot file a lawsuit solely to recover money or property for you. Call 1-877-5-NO-SCAM from inside North Carolina or file online.

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

Contact your county Department of Social Services (Adult Protective Services) and local law enforcement. The DOJ National Elder Fraud Hotline (833-372-8311) also helps with fraud against anyone 60 or older.

Is elder financial exploitation a crime in North Carolina?

Yes. Section 14-112.2 makes it a felony to knowingly obtain or use an older adult's funds by deception or intimidation with intent to deprive them, from Class I to Class F depending on the amount and the offender's relationship to the victim.

Does North Carolina regulate crypto ATMs?

Yes, starting January 1, 2027. The Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Protection Act (Session Law 2026-45) requires kiosk operators to be licensed money transmitters, caps daily transactions at $2,000 for new customers and $5,000 for existing customers, puts a 48-hour hold on transactions by customers whose first transaction was within the past seven days, and caps total fees at 12 percent. Refunds require a report to the Commissioner of Banks within 30 days and a Commissioner finding of fraud. Until then, money transmitters are licensed by the Office of the Commissioner of Banks.

What is the small claims limit in North Carolina?

A magistrate can hear small claims where the amount in controversy does not exceed $10,000 under section 7A-210.