If you recently lost a portion of your money to an investment fraud, an offer to recover your lost assets may sound very appealing. Unfortunately, for many victims of the old scam, the offer may be another scheme that only adds insult to injury.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today issued a warning against two entities –scams-recovery.com and scamsrecovery.com. As the names suggest, both websites are a form of advance-fee swindle which asks victims already harmed by other frauds to pay upfront for the chance of getting their money back.
This type of activity is typical of the fraud mechanism known as a ‘recovery room’. Although some government agencies could help people who have lost money, they don’t charge a fee, guarantee money back, or give special preference to anyone who files a formal complaint.
Global regulators caution investors that some of these offers may be fraudulent because it is often very difficult to track down the person or group that has scammed them.
Earlier this year, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) flagged a similar scam that involves phone calls purportedly from an IRS representative. The caller sounds official, speaks aggressively and demands immediate payment and sometimes he threatens—pay up now or face arrest or some other serious consequence. As such, he asks for your debit or credit card number, or may pressure you to pay with a prepaid debit card
While there are many variations of these tactics, the investor should be cautious of any person or organization that claims to know about his binary options accounts and offers to help return money to you
They use a variety of lies to add credibility to their pitch: some falsely use the name of a real person or firm that is registered with the regulator, or urgent correspondence and high-pressure calls are received from entities or persons claiming to represent companies or government agencies. In addition, once the victim shows interest, a series of official-looking documents are sent to assure the investor that money is waiting in an account and can be recovered for a fee.
