Social media recovery accounts could actually be another scam

Imagine that you've lost money in a scam and you go looking through social media to find others who have experienced the same thing as you, or for advice on what to do to try and get that money back. Some scammers are using that upset and desperation to try and drain more money for existing victims by claiming they can help.

A report by Which? found that a suspicious account on the social media platform Threads is offering scam advice but is most likely a recovery scammer, judging by the behaviour.

The report claims the newly-created account had a pinned post asking for the names and pictures of scammers, offering to track them down and recover your money.

It is all incredibly persuasive and tempting - however, it is another way to defraud, as the conversation will end up with the person asking for a payment, and you won't get your original money back.

In addition, Which? discovered that the profile photo is used in more than 100 other places on the internet, all under different names.

One user reports that she was defrauded by a romance scammer and then posted about her experience on the "recovery" account, which led to the account contacting her.

"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," she says. "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 was given a name to contact on the messaging app Telegram, where she was asked to pay £110 for the service of trying to recover her money lost in the romance fraud.

"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," She says. "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".

According to Which? Meta - the parent company of Threads - told them it is investigating the account in question. They also contacted Telegram but received no response before the story was published.

Which? says 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 have lost money in a scam, contact your bank as soon as possible by dialling 159 - however, if you have just been on a scam call, use a different phone to make the call or wait 15 minutes before dialling out if you are using the same phone. This is because scammers can stay on the 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.

This article has been created for information purposes only and is not considered financial advice.

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