Crypto recovery scams worsen financial losses

Scams

Protect Yourself from Crypto Recovery Scams: How to Avoid Falling Victim Twice

It’s a nightmare scenario for any cryptocurrency user. You fall victim to a crypto scam or cyberattack, resulting in stolen funds. You feel regret and shame – not to mention anger over the monetary loss. Unfortunately for many victims, this isn’t where the story ends. Imagine an even worse outcome: you are approached by someone or see an advert offering cryptocurrency recovery services. But instead of getting your funds back, all they do is make off with the upfront fee you paid them.

Unfortunately, this type of “recovery fraud” is increasingly common, and even the FBI has issued a Public Service Announcement (PSA) about it last year. Research indicates that nearly a third (30%) of identity theft victims have been revictimized at least once.

How do crypto recovery scams work?

Recovery scams are often a type of advance fee fraud – that is, the scammer will demand a fee up front for the service they claim to provide, and then disappear once it has been paid. They might also ask for access to your crypto accounts and/or personal and financial information, which can be sold on the dark web and used in follow-on scams.

Recovery scammers are all over social media. They may proactively seek out individuals who have just fallen victim to crypto theft/fraud and are venting online – and direct message them. Or they may be working from a list of crypto victims which they obtained on a hacking forum. They might even set up legitimate-looking asset recovery ‘businesses’ with official websites and advertise by listing in paid search engine results.

The bottom line is that once your crypto has been stolen it is extremely difficult to get back. Although blockchain-based currencies can be monitored, some are set up to protect the anonymity of users, so the fraudster cannot be unmasked. They will also try to “cash out” your crypto as soon as possible in order to obfuscate the trail further. The decentralized nature of crypto means that, even if you were able to find out where they ended up, it would be extremely challenging to get your funds back. Sometimes the best you can do is to avoid becoming a victim twice over.

Online fraudsters are predators and they’re lurking everywhere. Don’t let them get their hands on any more of your money.