Pay an upfront fee
Real agencies do not charge victims to file a report or pursue a case.
The second sting.
If someone contacts you unexpectedly and claims they can recover money you previously lost to a scam, treat the contact as suspicious until you've independently verified it. This applies no matter how official they sound, how much they already seem to know about your case, or how urgently they say you need to act.
Victim lists from earlier scams leak and get sold. A "recovery agent," "task force officer," or "lawyer" who calls out of nowhere found you because you're on one of those lists, not because they're specially positioned to help you.
Never, for any recovery offer
Give more banking information
No legitimate recovery process needs your card number, PIN, or online banking login.
Give remote computer access
There is no recovery process that requires controlling your device.
Give passwords or MFA codes
No one recovering your money needs to log in as you.
Give a crypto seed phrase
A seed phrase is full control of a wallet. Nobody needs it to "recover" funds from it.
Hand over ID documents
Don't send passport, driving licence or bank statement copies to an unverified service.
What real help looks like
If you want a second opinion on whether something is real, find the organisation's contact details independently, never using details the caller gave you.
Your bank
Contacted on the number on your card or in your app, not one given to you by the person offering to help.
Your national reporting agency
Free to use. See the country directory for the official one for you.
A support line
Free, confidential, and not selling anything. See the support page.
Verifying an investment or financial firm? Find the official regulator for your country, search their public register, and confirm the firm's exact legal name, authorisation and permissions there, not from anything the person who approached you provided. Scammers routinely clone real, authorised firms.
Why this keeps happening
Losing money to a scam is often followed by a period of actively searching for a way to undo it: reading forums, posting in groups, replying to anyone who seems to understand. That searching itself signals to the networks selling victim lists that you're a live prospect for a second scam, built specifically around your desire to get the first loss back. Knowing this in advance is the actual defence. Slow down, and verify independently, every time.