"We can get your money back"

If you have lost money to a scam, you will be targeted again. Not by coincidence. On purpose.

Your name, what happened, and how much you lost goes onto what the industry calls a sucker list. It's bought and sold like any other marketing data. Some of the people who call you next are the same crew under a new name.

Knowing this in advance is most of the defense.

What the second call sounds like

Weeks or months later:

• A law firm specializing in fraud recovery, with a real-looking website
• A crypto recovery service with blockchain expertise
• A government investigator — FTC, FBI, a "victim asset recovery unit"
• A fraud department following up on your case
• A class action settlement you're entitled to a share of

They're credible because they know things: the amount, the date, the name the first scammer used. That knowledge feels like proof. It isn't. They know because they either did it or bought the file.

Then: a retainer. A filing fee. A tax on the recovered funds. A bond to release the money. A small payment to start the process.

And the money goes again.

The rules that end it

1. No government agency ever charges a fee to return your money. Not the FBI. Not the FTC. Not a state attorney general. Federal employees do not take payment from victims. If a fee is mentioned by anyone claiming to be government, it is a scam, full stop.

2. Nobody who contacts you out of the blue can recover your money. Legitimate recovery goes through your bank, law enforcement, or a lawyer you found and hired. Never someone who called you.

3. Never pay money to get money. This is the oldest rule in fraud and it has no exceptions. Not a retainer, not a fee, not a tax, not a bond, not "just to cover the wire."

4. Cryptocurrency tracing services that call you are fake. Legitimate blockchain analysis firms work for law enforcement and banks. They do not cold-call individuals.

5. If it's about a real case, verify it yourself. Hang up. Call the FBI field office, the FTC, or your local police on numbers you look up. If you filed at ic3.gov, contact goes through channels you can confirm independently.

Legitimate ways money actually comes back

So you know what the real thing looks like:

• Your bank, if you report fast enough for a recall — hours, not days
• A credit card dispute, if you paid by card
• A gift card company, occasionally, if funds are still on the card
• A court-ordered distribution after a prosecution, which arrives by mail, years later, usually for a fraction — and never requires a payment from you
• FTC refund programs — real, and always free. Check ftc.gov/refunds yourself; never take someone's word that you're owed one.

Every one of those is free to you. Every one is something you initiate or that arrives by mail through an official process.

For families

If someone in your family has been scammed, tell them this part in advance, before the second call comes. Then it's a prediction that came true rather than a new emergency, and prediction is enormously protective — a call that was described to you last month is a call you recognize.

Also worth saying out loud: "If anyone calls about getting the money back, we'll look at it together first." Not supervision — a second pair of eyes, offered before it's needed.

You already know how this one ends

That's the advantage here. This call is coming, and now you can see it arriving from a long way off.

When it comes, you'll recognize the shape of it before they finish their opening line. That's not a small thing — it means the worst day is already behind you, and this one won't cost you anything.

Related: I think I was scammed · For family members