With the proliferation of online scams on social media, the demand for services specializing in recovering money lost to fraudsters has increased massively. Some users do not believe that these companies promise to return money for work. The anonymity of the internet and the prevalence of stories about elusive hackers make it hard to believe that money recovery services work.
Why do these companies work in the first place?
Several factors make their business model sound and their methods reliable.
- Scammers are usually just small fish in the pond. Compared to real criminals, these people are usually nobodies with some technical know-how and limited resources. All they do is try to trick people. At the first sign of danger, they start begging pursuers to stop.
- The internet is a jungle that a good trapper can easily navigate. People with better technical expertise and understanding of how the internet works can track down inexperienced scammers and even large operations because everything leaves a digital footprint.
- These companies are private entities and do not have to follow the same rules and limitations imposed on law enforcement units meaning that they often achieve better results. Just like private detectives are usually better at some tasks than trained policemen.
In general, scammers are cowardly tricksters who do not want to be found. They can be tracked down if a specialist starts a real investigation. Millions of US dollars are recovered annually thanks to efforts from companies specializing in fund recovery.
How do these companies operate?
While some people may believe that their encounters with scammers are unique and personal, the reality is that scammers follow a very simple pattern and try to go through as many potential victims as possible. They are making a lot of digital noise by spamming accounts, using easily traceable communication methods, and losing focus due to the dilution of the pool of potential victims.
If you fell victim to a scammer, you should do obvious steps first. Call your bank, cancel credit and debit card payments, and call the police. After that, go to the company that specializes in fund recovery. What happens next?
- Specialists of the company will set up an interview during which you will be able to share your story in detail.
- A dedicated team will collect any evidence that can be used against scammers (screenshots of messengers, social media accounts, payment documents, etc.).
- The obtained information is used to track down scammers and identify them if possible.
- The company confronts scammers and threatens them with legal action, lawsuits, pursuit from law enforcement, and more.
- The company negotiates on your behalf with the scammer and forces them to return money fully or partially.
Since many scammers are afraid to be identified, they quickly give up and pay back. If they don’t have the whole sum, they will pay whatever they can. If the client of the company thinks that the payment is sufficient, the case is considered closed. You can also use any data collected by the company to initiate a lawsuit instead of receiving compensation.
The success rate is surprisingly high
Companies that specialize in delicate manners rarely publish their detailed track record. Many victims of scams prefer to stay anonymous and do not leave any meaningful testimonials. However, financial information about these companies is quite interesting. Some fund recovery agencies manage to recover millions of US dollars annually and help thousands of people avoid financial ruin.
Clients pay for such services upfront to compensate the company for the initial phase of the investigation and usually pay a percentage-based fee when receiving recovered funds. The latter is also a huge incentive for companies to track down scammers and try to extract as much as possible from them. Sometimes, you can expect to receive compensation bigger than the amount that was stolen.
No one can guarantee you that your money will be recovered, but the success rate is higher than 0% which is already a good thing.