What to do if I’ve been scammed?

If you find yourself Googling “What to do if I’ve been scammed?”, or, “how to recover money from a scam?” then chances are you’ve just realised you’ve fallen victim to a scam. Victims of fraud often feel many different emotions following this realisation, including shock, embarrassment, fear and anger. It is important to understand that scammers in today’s online landscape are extremely clever and fall into the category of professional criminals.

Many scammers actually have an extensive knowledge of trading, investments and cryptocurrencies, and will use all sorts of technical jargon to bamboozle victims. However most importantly, the scammer will build trust with the victim, sometimes contacting the victim every single day and continuing the charade for year. In this article, you can expect to learn how to recover money from scammer.

It’s not your fault

As one of the world’s leading cyber fraud and scam investigation companies, we meany terrible scam stories. And we hear from people from all walks of life. When it comes to selecting victims, scammers are not picky and no one is exempt from being at risk. Our clients range from university students, to parents, grandparents, and even lawyers and professional financial advisers. That’s how good today’s scammers have become – even professionals in the field of investing can fall victim to a scam!

So, once the initial shock of the scam has settled, it’s time to consider what course of action to take.

I’ve been scammed, now what?

The first thing we recommend, is to consider if your personal data and access to finances are secure or at risk. The following steps should be considered and taken if relevant:

• Contact your financial institution and report the scam immediately. If you’ve sent funds using a bank transfer/wire, then your bank may be able to help by stopping the transaction in time. If you sent money to a scammer through debit/credit card payment, then your credit card provider may be able to assist you with a chargeback.
  
  
• If you believe the scammers may know any of your passwords to log in to important platforms, such as online banking or your cryptocurrency exchange account, then immediately change your passwords. For added security, adding two-factor authentication (2FA) is also recommended.
  
  
• If you’ve sent the scammers any personal information such as photo ID, then we recommend you speak with ID Care, which is Australia and New Zealand’s national identity & cyber support service. It is important to reduce the risk of identity theft as soon as possible. For victims of scams in other countries, there may be a similar government service to help reduce the risk of breached personal data and identity theft.
  
  
• We recommend your report the fraud to law enforcement. Australian victims can report cyber crime through the Government’s Report Cyber portal. Whilst every case is different and law enforcement may or may not be able to investigate the fraud for you, it is still important to report the crime.
  
  
• Often victims of scams can feel very alone and embarrassed. However, 11% of Australians experienced personal fraud in 2020-2021, so you are definitely not alone. It is also very normal to feel distressed after falling victim to fraud. Talking to someone and sharing your experience can be important for processing and recovering from the experience. Contact a family member, friend, your GP, or a support service if you feel you need to talk to someone. In Australia there are free services you can contact for help, such as Lifeline and Beyond Blue. In other countries, there are likely to be similar free help services.
  
  
• DON’T PANIC. If you’ve just realised you’ve been scammed, you’re probably not thinking very clearly. At this moment, you are at risk of losing even more money to a secondary scam or an asset recovery scam. Once you’ve realised you’re the victim of a scam, the obvious question that arises is, can I recover money from a scam? If you start searching for answers online, chances are you’ll come across an assets recovery scam. Anyone who promises to get your money back or grantees a successful recovery, is a scam. Anyone who contacts you, claiming they have found your money and offering to recover it for you, is also a scam. There is nothing simple about recovering money from a scam. It takes expert investigation, asset tracing and a global network of professionals.
  
  
• Contact Cybertrace Fraud Investigators. Once you’ve followed the above steps to ensure you’ve protected yourself against further financial loses or identity theft, contact our investigations team. We offer free support, advice and case assessment. Once we assess your case, we can provide possible solutions to identify the scammer and move into the asset recovery stages.
  

A recent client of ours managed to recover $17,000 herself, simply by following the advice our experts provided her! Our team is here to support you through the process.

So, if you’re asking yourself “what to do if I’ve been scammed”, our answer is, first react to secure yourself from further damage. Don’t panic, stay calm. Report the fraud. Do your own due diligence and be careful of recovery scams. Seek expert advice to determine what options are available to you.

Cybertrace is a leader in complex investigations of global fraud, money laundering, scams and cryptocurrency enabled cyber crime. Our team can assist you by providing advice, a free assessment of your case and expert investigation services. We are passionate about disrupting and exposing scammers and have a unique skill set that allows us to achieve results that others can not. Contact us today for a confident discussion with one of our investigators.