Recovery Scams - Warning Signs and Victim Support

This article was last updated on 18/08/2026.

Unfortunately if you’ve fallen victim to a scam such as a crypto or an investment scam you likely also become a target for recovery scams.

What are recovery scams?

Recovery scams happen when you have been the victim of a scam and you are then targeted by a fraudster claiming they can recover your money for an upfront fee. 

It may be the original scammers pretending to be a recovery company in order to steal more funds from you, or they have sold your information onto other groups of scammers who will look to target you.

Recovery fraud is an effective scam conducted by fraudsters, as it targets you at a time of vulnerability when you have just lost money. 

How do Recovery Scams work?

These scams typically begin as a cold call, email or a message on social media from fraudsters claiming to have located lost funds and want to help return them to you.

Scammers often pose as professional investigators, recovery firms and cryptocurrency exchanges. The fraudsters will often ask for an upfront fee and claim they can recover your money.

Here’s how they work;

1. You receive contact out of the blue through email, phone, or social media 
2. The contact claims to have located your lost funds, or they claim they can recover them for you
3. The contact will pose as one of, but not limited to the following; professional investigators, blockchain, recovery firms, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance or Coinbase and crypto tracing experts
4. The fraudsters will often ask for an upfront fee and these can be for a number of reasons including, but not limited to: providing liquidity, tax, withdrawal fees, reversal fees, anti money laundering fees and commission 
5. Fraudsters provide ‘proof’ of funds in the form of signed documents or fake tokens

These scams are usually highly professional and they often know a lot of information about you and your previous investments. They often pretend to be legitimate organisations (such as Blockchain or the Financial Conduct Authority).

Unfortunately these are fake and making payment will only result in further financial loss.

Types of Recovery Scams

Crypto recovery scams

You may have been the victim of a previous crypto scam and scammers then target you claiming to be from Binance or the blockchain. They claim they have found your stolen crypto and it has made a lot of money, you just need to pay upfront fees to release it. Do not pay, this is a trick to get you to send further funds.

Recovery scams on Facebook & social media

Scammers may contact you out of the blue on Facebook, or social media claiming they can recover your scammed money for an upfront fee. 

Fake regulators & fake recovery firms

These scams are usually highly professional and they often know a lot of information about you and your previous investments. They often pretend to be legitimate organisations (such as Blockchain or the Financial Conduct Authority).

How to spot a recovery scam: Red Flags

Here is a summary of the red flags to look out for if you are contacted by someone suggesting they can recover your lost money:

• You need to pay an upfront fee
• They’ve contacted you out of the blue and know information about you or a previous investment you’ve made
• They claim to be a recovery agent, or from a legitimate company like the FCA, or Binance
• They’re asking you to download remote software (e.g Anydesk or Teamviewer)
• The profit’s that they’ve ‘located’ are much higher than any initial investments you’ve previously made
• You’re being asked to make payment via cryptocurrency
• You’re being told to lie to the bank about the purpose of the payments

How to check if a recovery firm is genuine

• Check the FCA Register to see if they’re regulated - claims management services are a regulated activity
• Check the FCA Warning List of Unauthorised Firms
• If they’re claiming to be solicitor, check the Solictor’s Register
• Check that person is contacting you from the company they claim to work for. Scammers often pretend to be legitimate companies, for example The Financial Conduct Authority, Blockchain and Binance. Most of these companies will not cold contact you but if in doubt call or email the company directly using the contact details listed on the FCA or SRA registry. 
• Scammers also pretend to be legitimate recovery firms (such as Refundee) - a legitimate recovery company will never contact you out of the blue.
• To be sure that you’re speaking to the genuine company, check that the contact details on the FCA website match the phone number/email address you’re communicating with them on. 
• Check reviews on Trustpilot and Google (be wary as fraudsters often use fake reviews) 

If you are ever unsure whether the company who is claiming they can get a refund for you is genuine, call the number on the back of your bank card and speak to your bank’s fraud team.

What to do if you've been targeted (or already paid)

If you have already paid a recovery scammer, do not panic, here are the steps you can take:

• Cut all contact with the scammer
• Contact your bank immediately, using the number on the back of your card
• Preserve your evidence, transactions records, communication etc
• Report it to Report Fraud
• Explore recovery options for the original and follow-up loss

How Refundee can help:

If you have lost money to a recovery scam, Refundee can help you get your money back from your bank and you can complete our claim form for a free consultation.

We have recovered over £140 million for our clients so far and we specialise in Authorised Push Payment fraud recovery, including recovery scams. 

Our fees are fair, industry-lowest, and straightforward. We only charge a fee if we’re successful, and there are no hidden or upfront costs. Our fee is between 15% and 25% plus VAT depending on how much money you get back, and we don't charge anything if we are not successful. 

Recovering your money is possible and you can use a specialist company like Refundee, or make a claim yourself for free following our claim yourself guide.

Join 6,000 customers in getting your money back.

Conclusion

If you have been the victim of a recovery scam, do not panic, you have options to recover from this. 

Fraudsters are professional criminals who are becoming more and more sophisticated and you should not blame yourself. 

Refundee can provide you with support and explain your recovery options through a free consultation. 

Written by Stuart McFadden, Co-Founder at Refundee.
Stuart specialises in banking regulations and crypto fraud recovery, helping victims navigate claims against UK banks that have failed in their duty to protect customers. He has featured regularly in the media discussing fraud and victim rights, including the BBC and ITV.