Scammers Trying to Scam You Twice
If you have been the victim of a fraud or scam, you are more likely to be contacted by a seemingly official “law firm or agency” offering to help you recoup your losses and shut down the scammers. This is called a “Recovery Scam”.
Contacted About Getting Money Back After a Scam?
Beware – the original scammer has changed their name and email address and pretending to be a legitimate enforcement agency or company to try and scam you again.
Recognize a Recovery Scam:
Typically, these types of scams will promise specific action, such as recovering money and shutting down, or catching the scammer. Agencies that are able to legitimately investigate this type of activity would never guarantee a specific outcome.
Did you receive this ‘recovery’ email out of the blue?
Is the email address from a free webmail service (like Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail)? Is the reply address different than the typical government email address? A law enforcement or government agency will not use free webmail addresses for official work.
Are they asking for fees? Law enforcement and government agencies that investigate and enforce criminal activity do not charge fees for their services.
Scammers Target Binary Options Victims
A recent take on this recovery scam has been targeted at those who have lost money in binary options and forex scams. The scam artists have set up legitimate websites and claim to help refund money lost in these types of scams. Learn more about binary options scams.
What should I do?
If you find yourself in this situation, don’t just walk away – run. Scam artists make a lot of money and won’t easily walk away if they think there’s a chance you might give them more of your hard-earned money.
- Never give your banking or credit card information to a company you don’t know.
- Do an internet search for the email address or company name. Can you verify the company is legitimate? If they’re offering to get your money back for a fee, they’re a scam and the search results may speak for themselves!
- Don’t pay a fee to get your money back! It is always a scam if you’re asked to pay a fee in relation to an investigation.
- Report the scam: While it can be hard to accept that the money you’ve lost is gone, don’t let scammers con you twice. Report the email to the appropriate investigative authorities and delete the email from your inbox. Learn more about where to report fraud.