Australians who have been victims of a scam are being urged by the National Anti-Scam Centre to be wary of any offers claiming they can recover the money lost for an upfront fee.
Reports of a money recovery scam are rising, and between December last year and May this year, Scamwatch received 158 reports, with losses totalling over A$2.9 million. These include losses from the original scam.
Reports numbers jumped by 129 per cent, when compared to six months earlier. The positive side is that financial losses have decreased by 29 per cent.
Victims of previous scams are the ones being targeted as they are easily identifiable by criminals who keep and sell information about those exploited.
The largest group suffering the highest average losses were Australians aged 65 and over.
ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said, “Money recovery scams are damaging and cruel. Criminals prey on people who have already been victims of a scam who hope to get their money back. They are another example of scammers’ willingness to exploit people’s desperation at a vulnerable moment.”
“Scammers pose as trusted parties such as government agencies, lawyers, or even charities. We are also aware of criminals pretending to be a victim themselves and claiming that a specific person or entity helped them get their money back.”
“We are very concerned about revictimisation which can compound both the financial and emotional harm caused by scams. For example, we know of a person who was the target of multiple scams in succession. What began as a romance baiting investment scam was followed by a money recovery scam, which led to a remote access scam, and finally identity theft.”
“In other cases, victims unknowingly proactively contacted criminals after seeing advertisements online. As part of our initial response, the National Anti-Scam Centre has referred two websites used in recovery scams for takedown action. One has been successfully taken down already.”
These scammers are promising past victims they can recover their losses for an upfront fee. Legitimate scam investigation services are rarely able to recover losses.
The National Anti-Scam Centre doesn’t recommend victims engage with services or individuals claiming they can recover losses. Instead, the victims should report the scam to police and contact their financial institution.
Majority of money stolen by criminals gets transferred offshore almost instantly, which is why recovery is difficuly.
The National Anti-Scam Centre believes compensation will be an appropriate, necessary part of external dispute resolution.
“Scams are crimes, and the criminals who prey on desperate people trying to recover in the aftermath are reprehensible. Anyone can be scammed, and that’s one of the reasons drawing attention to Scamwatch’s advice and resources is so important.”
The scam sees criminals contacting previous victims, pretending to be a trusted party, including a government agency, cyber security organisation, fun recovery service, lawyer, charity, etc.
They could use email, phone calls, mobile apps, social media, or text messaging for contact. Sometimes the first encounter is through an advertisement on social media or from searching the web.
The victims are told their losses can be recovered for an upfront fee, a percentage of the funds lost, or a tax payment. Victims have even been told lost cryptocurrency can be tracked down.
Personal information is requested under the guise of verifying identity, or to set up a cryptocurrency wallet for the payments.
Remote access is sometimes requested as well for obtaining personal information and identification details.
In some instances, the criminal could pretend to be a scam victim, claiming a specific person or organisation helped them recover funds, and are referring victims to fake recommendations.
The criminals could even use websites advertising their services that appear professional to appear legitimate.
With scams becoming harder to spot, and that’s where the National Anti-Scam Centre’s Scamwatch comes in.
There are four steps to follow to protect against scams. One: Stop, Two: Check, Three: Protect, Four: Report.
If an individual has been scammed before, and is contacted by someone offering to recover money, they are urged to say no, hand up, delete, and block repeated attempts.
These criminals pretend to be from trusted organisations, so individuals are urged to verify who they’re speaking with by contacting the organisation directly via contact information sourced independently.
The victim is also urged to never accept offers from someone contacting them claiming they can recover money. All requests should be reported to the police.
No financial, cryptocurrency, or account details should be shared, along with copies of identity documents. No remote access to devices should be granted.
The only lawyers that should be used are those registered with the official Law Society or Bar Association in the victim’s state.
If a criminal has money or personal details, the individual should contact their bank immediately, as well as contact IDCARE for support.
If the response isn’t satisfactory from the financial institution, the user should make a complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority/
Finally, report the scam and spread the news to avoid others being caught.
Only law enforcement authorities have the power to seize and recover assets.
