Resources

How to report wrongdoing safely

From the book’s Conclusion, “Your First 24 Hours.” This is general information, not legal advice.

The 24-Hour Checklist

• Write down what you saw, with dates and times, on a personal device and personal account.
• Keep a copy of your notes somewhere your employer cannot reach.
• List the documents that prove it and where they are; don’t take them until you’ve had advice.
• Keep what you saw separate from what you suspect.
• Quietly ask one person you trust whether they have seen the same thing.
• Talk to a lawyer or a whistleblower-support group before choosing where to report.
• Check your deadline: in the U.S., some retaliation complaints must be filed within 30 days.
• If the threat is online, don’t pay: save the evidence, report it and tell someone.

Where to take it

The order matters, because in many places the protection depends on whom you tell.

A lawyer or a whistleblower-support group is usually the safest first call; they can tell you which doors are protected where you live. In the United States, the Government Accountability Project, founded in 1977 in the wake of the Pentagon Papers, represents and advises whistleblowers. Whistleblower Aid, the legal nonprofit that represented Haugen, offers free legal help. In Britain, the charity Protect runs a free, confidential advice line. The help pages at the back of this book list contact details for these and others.

United States

If someone is in danger now

• 911: emergency police, fire and medical help in the United States. Call 911 if someone is in immediate danger. US only
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: free, confidential support for anyone with mental health struggles, emotional distress or alcohol or drug concerns, or who just needs someone to talk to, 24/7. Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. In Spanish, call 988 and press 2, or text AYUDA to 988. US only
• Veterans Crisis Line: free, confidential support 24/7 for veterans, service members, National Guard and Reserve members, and those who support them; VA enrollment is not required. Dial 988 then press 1, or text 838255, or chat at veteranscrisisline.net. US only
• Crisis Text Line: free, 24/7, confidential text support from a volunteer crisis counselor for anyone facing mental health challenges. Text HOME to 741741. US only

Sexual abuse, assault and child abuse

• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: free, confidential, 24/7 support for people who have been sexually assaulted or abused and for those who love them, in English and Spanish. Call 800.656.HOPE (4673), text HOPE to 64673, or chat at hotline.rainn.org. US only
• Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: counselors for anyone concerned about or affected by child abuse; it is not a reporting line and is not connected to 911. Call (800) 422-4453, or text “GO” to 800.422.4453. US only
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: free, confidential, 24/7 support for survivors of domestic violence and for friends and family worried about someone. Call 1.800.799.SAFE (7233), text START to 88788, or chat at thehotline.org. US only

Online exploitation and sextortion

• NCMEC CyberTipline: the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s place to report the sexual exploitation of children, including nude or sexual images of a child and someone chatting online with a child about sex. Report at report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. US only
• Take It Down: a free NCMEC service that can help remove or stop the online sharing of nude, partially nude or sexually explicit images or videos taken of you when you were under 18; your images stay on your device. takeitdown.ncmec.org. US only
• StopNCII.org: a free tool for adults whose intimate images, taken when they were 18 or older, are shared without consent; it makes a digital fingerprint (a “hash”) of the image on your own device and shares only that with participating companies so they can help detect and remove it. stopncii.org. US only
• FBI: takes reports of sextortion and other federal crimes. Report online at tips.fbi.gov, call 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), or contact your local FBI field office. US only

Scams and fraud

• Your bank, credit union, card issuer or wire transfer company: if money has just gone to a scammer, the Federal Trade Commission’s advice is to report it to them immediately, using the number on the back of your card or your account app, and ask them to reverse the payment. US only
• FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): the FBI’s central hub for reporting cyber-enabled crime, including online frauds and scams; anyone affected can file. ic3.gov. US only
• Federal Trade Commission: report fraud, scams and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC says it will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. US only
• IdentityTheft.gov: the FTC’s site to report identity theft and get a recovery plan. IdentityTheft.gov. US only
• National Elder Fraud Hotline: a Justice Department hotline for people age 60 or older who have been victims of fraud; a case manager helps you report the crime and find other resources, at no cost, in English, Spanish and other languages. Call 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311), Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time. US only
• AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline: free support and guidance for those targeted by scams (guidance, not investigation or money recovery). Call 877-908-3360, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time. US only

Whistleblower help

• Government Accountability Project: represents and advises whistleblowers, employees who speak up after discovering illegality, gross mismanagement or waste of funds; contacting it does not by itself stop legal deadlines. Use the intake form at whistleblower.org or call (202) 457-0034. US only
• Whistleblower Aid: a nonprofit legal organization that helps public- and private-sector workers report wrongdoing safely and lawfully, and represents its clients at no cost. Contact it through whistlebloweraid.org; the site warns against using a computer owned by the government or your employer. US only
• National Whistleblower Center: a free program that helps whistleblowers find an attorney through a secure intake form; it does not give legal advice itself. whistleblowers.org. US only
• SEC Office of the Whistleblower: takes tips about possible securities law violations, such as insider trading or theft of investors’ funds. File through the online Tips, Complaints and Referrals portal at sec.gov/tcr. US only
• OSHA Whistleblower Protection Program: takes complaints from workers punished for reporting problems, under many federal laws; deadlines vary by law and can be as short as 30 days. File online at whistleblowers.gov or call 1-800-321-OSHA (6742). US only
• U.S. Office of Special Counsel: for current and former federal executive-branch employees and job applicants; takes disclosures of wrongdoing and complaints of whistleblower retaliation. For questions on how to report, call the Whistleblower Disclosure Hotline at (800) 572-2249. osc.gov. US only
• Oversight.gov: the official site of the federal inspectors general; it asks a few questions and points you to the right place to report fraud, waste, abuse or retaliation in the federal government. oversight.gov. US only
• SecureDrop Directory: a list of news organizations that accept documents from anonymous sources through SecureDrop, a project of the Freedom of the Press Foundation; the site advises using a safe location, not a work computer. securedrop.org/directory. US only

Leaving a high-control group

• International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA): a global network, founded in 1979, offering information, education and resources for former members, families and others affected by cultic and other high-control groups, including recovery and family workshops. internationalculticstudies.org. US only

Other countries

United Kingdom

• Protect (UK): free, confidential whistleblowing advice for people worried about wrongdoing at work. Advice line 0203 117 2520; opening hours at protect-advice.org.uk.
• Samaritans (UK and Ireland): call free any time, day or night, from any phone, whatever your age. Call 116 123. samaritans.org.

In Britain, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 makes any term in an agreement between a worker and an employer void “in so far as it purports to preclude the worker from making a protected disclosure.” In England and Wales, the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 also lets victims of crime tell the police, lawyers, regulators, support services and close family about the crime, for set purposes such as reporting it or getting support, whatever a nondisclosure agreement signed since October 1, 2025, says.

Ireland

• Samaritans (UK and Ireland): call free any time, day or night, from any phone, whatever your age. Call 116 123. samaritans.org.

Canada

• 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline (Canada): a crisis responder, without judgement, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Call or text 9-8-8. 988.ca.

European Union

In the European Union, a 2019 directive gave people who report breaches of EU law they learn of through work, in areas such as finance, product safety, the environment and data protection, a floor of protection, and member states had until December 17, 2021, to turn it into national law. Its rights “cannot be waived or limited by any agreement.” Not every government moved on time. In March 2025, the EU’s top court fined five member states, Germany among them, for failing to bring it into force in time.

Australia

In Australia, company insiders who report suspected misconduct to the corporate and financial regulators, to their own lawyer or to senior people in the company can be protected by the Corporations Act, though not for a purely personal workplace grievance. The regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, says those protections include keeping the whistleblower’s identity confidential and protection from being sued for breaching an employment contract, and that punishing a whistleblower can be a crime. Government secrets fall under different rules, as McBride’s case showed.

Worldwide

• Find A Helpline: a vetted directory of helplines and crisis lines in more than 175 countries. findahelpline.com.
• Whistleblowing International Network: a charity based in Scotland that connects organizations supporting whistleblowers around the world; its member list names whistleblower support groups in many countries. whistleblowingnetwork.org.