Recovery Scams: The Second Wave That Targets People Who Already Lost Money
Recovery scams approach people who have already been defrauded and promise to retrieve their funds for an upfront fee. Here is how the approach works and how to shut it down.
Why victims are targeted twice
Once a loss becomes visible — in a public comment, a review site, a support group — it signals to fraud operators that a person has both money at risk and a strong motivation to act. Recovery scams exploit that motivation directly.
How the approach usually arrives
- An unsolicited message from a "blockchain specialist", "cyber agent", "lawyer" or "certified recovery expert".
- A referral posted under a complaint, often from an account created recently.
- Screenshots of supposedly recovered balances, or a small fabricated "partial recovery".
The fee pattern
- A modest upfront payment is requested for tools, gas, filing or verification.
- A second charge appears once the first is paid, framed as unavoidable.
- Contact ends, or the demands continue until the victim stops paying.
What to do
- Never pay an upfront fee for recovery, and never share a seed phrase, private key, password or one-time code. - Capture the profile link, phone number, wallet address and full conversation before blocking. - Document the approach on ScamWatch so the identifiers can be indexed for other users.
Stay alert: legitimate organisations will never ask you for your password, private key, seed phrase or a one-time passcode. If something feels off, stop, verify independently, and avoid sending further funds.