If the money's already gone
The most important steps in the first days: pay nothing further, document everything, contact your bank and the police, and ignore offers of supposed recovery services.
The first and most important point: pay nothing more. In almost every scheme, this is where the request comes to transfer a bit more for taxes, fees, or a release. That's always part of the fraud.
Document everything while it's still there. Screenshots of the platform, chat logs, emails, transfer receipts, phone numbers, names. Access often gets deleted on short notice.
Contact your bank and ask about options to reverse payments, especially for recent transfers and card payments. File a report with the police and report the provider to the relevant regulator.
And expect a second attempt. Anyone who's lost money once often gets contacted again, this time by supposed lawyers or recovery services offering to help for an upfront fee. That's the same scheme a second time.
Under payment law, recovery options depend on the payment method. Card payments sometimes offer chargeback procedures with deadlines, direct debits have dispute periods, while bank transfers and crypto transfers generally can't be unilaterally reversed. Timing is decisive, which is why contacting the bank should come before every other step.
For crypto transfers, the path of the funds can be traced via public blockchain data. Attribution to actual people, though, is regularly impossible without authorities' involvement, which is why documenting the recipient addresses matters more for an investigation than doing your own research.
The follow-up scheme, in which victims get contacted again, is well documented. It exploits both the willingness to want losses recovered and the contact details already available from the first incident. Legitimate entities never demand upfront payment to recover assets.
Summary
- Never pay more, whatever the justification.
- Document immediately and contact the bank before anything else.
- Offers of recovery for an upfront fee are the same scheme again.
Did you get it?
What's the first step?
Stop transferring anything and contact the bank right away, since recovery deadlines are running.
Why do recipient addresses matter for crypto transfers?
Because the path of funds is publicly traceable, but attribution to people requires authorities' involvement.
What characterizes the follow-up scheme?
Getting contacted again with an offer to recover the money for an upfront fee.