Recovery scams: how to spot the second scam after a romance scam

Losing money to someone you met online is hard enough. For many people a second scam follows, from someone who offers to get the money back.

Short answer: A recovery scam is a second scam aimed at people who already lost money, for example to a romance or crypto scam. Someone posing as a lawyer or a government agent offers to get your money back, then asks you to pay first. The FTC says government agencies and legitimate organizations never ask for money to help you get a refund. Don't pay anyone who contacts you about lost money, and report the contact at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov.

Signs the "help" is a recovery scam

1. They found you. You never contacted them. Montgomery County Police in Maryland put it plainly: "Legitimate professionals do not cruise social media to pounce on victims; you must contact them first."
2. They know a lot about your loss. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) flags anyone who "knows a lot about the money you lost." Victim lists carry the amount.
3. A fee comes before the money. The FTC's examples include a "retainer fee", "processing fee", "administrative charge" or "tax". Washington State's Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) adds the "decryption fee" and "withdrawal tax".
4. Payment by crypto, gift cards, wire or a payment app. Only scammers insist on these, according to the FTC.
5. They claim to work with the FBI, IC3 or another agency. A June 2024 warning from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) describes fake law firms that say they received your case from the FBI or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
6. A promise you'll get it all back. In DFI's words, "Real legal and financial professionals never make guarantees."
7. Secrecy, or a move to WhatsApp or Telegram. DFI warns about pressure to hide the service from your family, bank workers or local police.
8. Won't show a license or go on camera. IC3 flagged fake lawyers who won't show a license or appear on video (August 2025).

What real help looks like, and what a recovery scam asks for

Why romance-scam victims get targeted again

Scammers buy lists of people who've paid scammers and call them a 'sucker list', according to the FTC. An entry can hold a name, a phone number, "the kind of scam that tricked you, and how much money you paid." The lists get bought, sold and traded "expecting that people who have been scammed once are good targets for being scammed again." Citing a 2001 study by Titus and Gover, the CFTC says "the majority of fraud victims are victimized more than once."

"In many cases, the recovery scammer is the exact same person or ring that stole your money the first time," according to DFI. FINRA puts it more cautiously: in some cases, they "might even be associated with those who committed the initial fraud." After a romance scam, the "lawyer" may know your story because the people behind the fake match shared your details, or because they are the same people. IC3's July 2026 warning calls these re-targeting or "double-dip" scams.

Other ways they find you:

• Court filings, which the SEC says asset recovery companies mine for victims' names.
• Your posts. DFI says scammers search Reddit, X, Facebook and YouTube for people complaining about crypto losses.
• Fake fellow victims. In April 2025, IC3 described scammers who joined online groups for fraud victims, posed as victims themselves, and sent real ones to a fake IC3 "Chief Director" on Telegram.
• Your threat to report. IC3's July 2026 warning describes victims who told the scammers they would file an IC3 report, then heard from a fake FBI agent.

Still unsure the first contact was a scam? Start with the signs of a romance scammer.

How a recovery scam plays out

The FTC says these scams usually follow a set pattern. They reach you by call, email, text, social media or letter. They say they're with a government agency, a consumer advocacy group or a law firm, and may claim to hold money for you.

Then comes the fee. In the CFTC's examples it is a small donation, a retainer or overdue taxes, and more requests often follow the first payment. Others ask for your bank account number, the FTC notes, to "deposit a refund directly into your account." Then, in DFI's words, "Once you pay, they take your money and disappear again."

One variant runs backwards: a "refund" arrives for more than you lost, with a request to send back the difference. The FTC says that is always a scam. Passing money on for someone else is also how money mule scams work.

The newer versions: fake law firms, fake agents and deepfakes

Fake crypto tracing. Some firms charge an up-front fee to trace stolen cryptocurrency, then go quiet or ask for more, according to an August 2023 IC3 warning. The same warning is blunt about their limits: "Private sector recovery companies cannot issue seizure orders to recover cryptocurrency." For how the first scam works, see crypto romance scams.

Fake law firms. Crypto scam victims who were further exploited by fictitious law firms reported losses of over $9.9 million between February 2023 and February 2024, according to an IC3 warning from June 2024. By the next warning, in August 2025, the firms were citing made-up agencies such as the "International Financial Trading Commission (INTFTC)" and telling victims they were on a government-affiliated list of scam victims. The test it suggests is simple: ask for video or a photo of their law license, and if they can't readily provide one, assume they are not legitimate.

Fake IC3 and FBI agents. Between December 2023 and February 2025, the FBI received more than 100 reports of IC3 impersonation scams (IC3 warning, April 2025). The real IC3 "will never directly communicate with individuals via phone, email, social media, phone apps, online chat, or public forums," in the words of its July 2026 warning. When more information is needed, FBI employees from a local field office or other law enforcement officers get in touch. That July warning adds two newer tricks: a fake FBI agent on Facebook Messenger who sends a link to "update" your IC3 report, and AI-generated videos of a senior FBI leader promoting a spoofed IC3 site. That site's form asks for your "name, phone number, email address, scam type, and estimated financial loss." Deepfake video turns up in live calls too.

IC3's 2025 Internet Crime Report, published in April 2026, counts 10,516 recovery scam complaints and $1.4 billion in losses for 2025, and notes the losses may include money lost in the earlier scam. People 60 and over filed about a quarter of those complaints (2,529) but reported $540.5 million of the losses. A separate count covers a different period: nearly 61,000 complaints of law enforcement or government impersonation, of every kind, from January 2025 to July 2026, IC3 said in September 2026.

In July 2026, the Justice Department announced a 14-year sentence for a man convicted of fraud after he and others posed as federal agents offering to help elderly investors recover lost money.

Can you get money back after a romance scam?

Rarely if you sent crypto or paid a fake investment site, and never by paying a stranger. "It is very rare to recover money lost in cryptocurrency or online investment scams," DFI says.

Speed helps most. The IC3 Recovery Asset Team works with banks to freeze transfers: for victims 60 and over in 2025, it opened 642 incidents with $65,367,648 in reported losses and helped freeze $32,865,655, according to IC3's 2025 report. That starts with your bank and a complaint at ic3.gov, never with someone who calls you.

Real routes look like this:

• FTC refunds. The FTC never requires upfront fees or asks for your Social Security or bank account number. When it pays a refund through PayPal, the FTC first emails you from an address ending in .gov, and PayPal then sends its own email about the refund.
• Court restitution. Eligible victims "will likely be notified by mail," in the CFTC's words. Look up the agency or court yourself, but don't ignore the letter: "It could also be real."
• Free complaints. In an Aug. 9, 2016 investor alert, the SEC said asset recovery companies often charge "from hundreds to thousands of dollars" for their services. Some do little more than send a demand letter and a boilerplate complaint, "two steps that victims can take easily on their own, free of charge."
• A civil case. Victims can also choose to pursue civil litigation, according to an August 2023 IC3 warning. A later one, from August 2025, says to be cautious of law firms contacting you unexpectedly.

To check a lawyer, the American Bar Association's consumer FAQ page (read November 2026) points you to your state, which "maintains current records of registration and discipline information for lawyers licensed to practice in the state." Look the lawyer up with the licensing agency in the state they say they practice in, using contact details you find yourself. This is general information, not legal advice.

What to do if a recovery scammer contacts you, or you already paid

If someone has just reached out:

1. Don't pay or share account numbers. Stop replying and block them on every app and number.
2. Check the claim yourself. Look up the agency's number on your own. If someone says they're with the FBI, call your local FBI field office, as IC3 advises.
3. Tell someone you trust. Being asked to keep it from your family or bank is itself a tell.

If you already paid:

1. Call your bank or credit union now. Ask it to reverse the payment and stop pending transfers.
2. Keep the messages, crypto wallet addresses, transaction hashes and receipts.
3. Report it at ic3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and to your state attorney general. For a crypto or investment loss, find your state securities regulator in the NASAA directory.
4. If you're 60 or over, or helping a parent, call the DOJ's free National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311. Scammers also claim to be from the hotline, so dial the number yourself and give no Social Security number or money to a caller who uses its name.

If you are in danger, call 911.

Where to report

Report the profile to the dating app where you met, and the loss at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov. For the payment-by-payment steps, use our guide on how to report a romance scammer. Gift cards have their own process, covered in why scammers want gift cards.

If you date again

If you start dating again, TrulyWho checks a match's public accounts, photos and work from an email or phone in about a minute. It can't get money back or check a lawyer, so use your state's licensing agency for that.

FAQ

What is a recovery scammer?

Someone who contacts a person who already lost money to a scam and promises to get it back for a fee. They often pose as a lawyer or a government agent. The FTC says that if you pay, you'll lose more money. Washington's DFI says that in many cases it is the same person or ring that took the money the first time.

Are there legitimate scam recovery companies?

Treat any company that contacts you first and asks for an upfront fee as a scam. FINRA says recovery services that reach out and want money up front are almost always fraudulent themselves. In a 2016 alert, the SEC said some companies charge for steps you can take yourself for free, like filing a complaint with a regulator. FTC refunds never require a fee.

Will the FBI or IC3 contact me about my lost money?

Not IC3 itself. Its July 2026 warning says IC3 never contacts people directly by phone, email, social media, apps, online chat or public forums. If more information is needed, FBI employees from a local field office or other law enforcement officers get in touch. Scammers borrow both names: in April 2025, IC3 described fake fellow victims who sent people to a fake IC3 "Chief Director" on Telegram. Law enforcement does not charge victims a fee to investigate. To check a caller, phone your local FBI field office on a number you look up yourself.

How did they know how much I lost?

Scammers trade lists of past victims that include the type of scam and how much was paid, according to the FTC. The CFTC says the original scammers may keep your details or sell them on the dark web. Washington's DFI adds that scammers search Reddit, X, Facebook and YouTube for people complaining about losing money to crypto scams.

I already paid a recovery service. What now?

Stop all contact and call your bank or credit union right away to try to reverse the payment and stop pending transfers. Keep every message, receipt and wallet address. Report it at ic3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general. If you are 60 or over, the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311 can help you file.

Can a lawyer get my money back?

Victims can choose to pursue civil litigation, IC3 said in August 2023. Washington's DFI says it is very rare to recover money lost in crypto or online investment scams, and that real legal and financial professionals never make guarantees. Be careful with any law firm that contacts you first, as IC3 warned in August 2025. Find a lawyer yourself and check their license with your state, which keeps current registration and discipline records for its lawyers, according to the American Bar Association's consumer FAQ page (read November 2026). This is general information, not legal advice.