Recovery scams: what you need to know about them

A suspicious account on the social media platform Threads, a platform owned by Meta, offering scam advice is most likely a recovery scammer.

That was our conclusion after inspecting the account and its behaviour. Typically, recovery scammers promise they can get you your money back for a fee. Unfortunately, they can’t, and any money given to them won’t be returned.

Here, we share our recent findings of a recovery scammer and explain how to spot a recovery scam. 

Social media recovery scammer

A newly created account on Threads claims to offer scam advice and raised our suspicions. This account may appear to be helping people, but there are a few signs that this is a profile to be wary of.

The account had a pinned post which prompted our suspicion – it asks for the names and pictures of scammers who have defrauded victims. Recovery scammers will usually tell you that they can track down those who have scammed you. But it's all just another piece of theatre in the world of scams, and one that is incredibly persuasive if you've recently had money stolen or accounts hacked.

We also found that the account was created two months ago, and the profile picture was found in more than 100 other places on the internet, but all under different names.

‘I was told I could get my money back’

We spoke with someone who was targeted by this recovery scam. 

After being defrauded by a romance scammer, Samantha (not her real name) came across this 'recovery' account on Threads and replied to one of their posts detailing her experience.

‘The next thing, they started messaging me. They told me that they knew someone who could help people get money back – and that this person had helped their daughter to recoup money,’ Samantha told Which?.

‘The account on Threads also said that their contact could recoup funds paid using cryptocurrency and that they worked for the NCA (National Crime Agency),’ she continued.

Samantha was told that the person working for the NCA was on the messaging platform Telegram. She was then given an account name on there to contact, where she was asked to pay £110 for the service of getting her money back.

‘At first, I was prepared to risk £110 if there was a chance to get back any of the money that I lost to the scammer. However, when I asked for the PayPal account to make the payment to, they gave me a personal account name. Then, they gave me a different personal account name. They told me that the 'official' company PayPal account was unavailable due to maintenance, which sounded like nonsense to me,’ Samantha said.

Which? contacted Meta and Telegram about this scam. Meta told us that it is investigating the account. We didn't hear back from Telegram by the time we published this story.

Signs of a recovery scam

You may be talking to a recovery scammer if:

• You’re asked to pay money to get your money back. 
• You’re contacted out of the blue after having your money stolen and the person claims they can get your money back.
• You’re rushed to decide in a short timeframe.
• The person or organisation contacting you about recovering your money knows a lot of details about the scam. This could be because it’s the same scammer trying to re-target you.

If you’ve been targeted by a scam, the best way to get your money back is by contacting your bank as soon as possible. By dialling 159, you will be connected to your bank. If you contact your bank immediately after a scam call, wait at least 15 minutes before calling your bank using the same phone, or use a different phone. This is because scammers can stay on your line even after you hang up.

You can report recovery scams to Report Fraud or call the police on 101 if you’re in Scotland. If you have money stolen by a scam, contact your bank immediately using the number on the back of your card.