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 What is a recovery scam?

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A recovery scam is a scam in which someone pretends to be able to recover something of value, such as cryptocurrency.
A given recovery scammer may or may not be part of a group that executed the initial scam upon a given victim.
Despite my having taken the time to create this web page, at the conclusion of 2025, large amounts of money will still be lost to recovery scams because:

Giving money to a recovery scammer is NOT gambling.
It is just giving money away.

Common Elements of Recovery Scams

This web page will address the following common elements of recovery scams:

Sunk Cost Fallacy

If you have ever taken a course in economics or business, your instructor has likely introduced the Sunk Cost Fallacy.
Recovery scammers prey upon the desperation of people who have already been scammed.

No upfront fee?!

A given recovery scammer may say that he or she does not charge any upfront or even out-of-pocket fees.
Regardless of what words a recovery scammer uses to pitch his or her scam, he or she absolutely intends for you to give them something of value.
Repeat!
Regardless of what a recovery scammer pitches his or her scam, he or she absolutely intends for you to give them something of value.
Even some guy that uses terms such as the terms below?

Especially anyone that uses any of those terms!!!

What about a lawyer?

Someone representing himself as a lawyer online might either:

Unless actual law enforcement is involved, you should be EXTREMELY suspect of any cryptocurrency be recovered.

Judgment Proof

Many people will choose to pay a recovery scammer under the same delusion that caused them to fall victim to the initial scam.
They will rationalize that if the recovery scammer does not make good on his promises, the victim can take him to court.
Even if law enforcement is involved, there is a very strong chance that an online scammer will be outside of the jurisdiction of your country's court system.

Recovery Scammers Are... On Point?

If you are a long-time listener of the National Public Radio program On Point, you may have heard the December 20th, 2018 episode that had a hoax caller.
The caller began his call sounding reasonable, then pivoted to a racist rant.
Chakrabarti began to press the caller further, but ultimately decided to end the call.
“Dominic, thanks for your call, I guess,” she said before hanging up.
“Soleil, I did not see that one coming, so apologies for that.”

The excerpt in italics above is from the link below:
https://atlantablackstar.com/2019/01/01/boston-public-radio-station-offers-apology-after-hoax-caller-makes-racist-remarks-on-air/
That particular caller was not engaging in a recovery scam, but he was using a common tactic that recovery scammers use:
Begin your pitch sounding reasonable, then pivot to the scam.

FAQ

Question
I lost money in a scam.
Someone contacted me to say that he could recover the money that I lost!
All that he is asking for is a 10% fee.
He guarantees that if he cannot recover my crypto, he will refund the 10%.
What will happen after I pay the 10% fee?

Answer