It has been estimated that roughly 7% of the adult American population has been a victim of a scam in one way or another. The total American population is estimated to be 21 million. It is unfortunate that these are just a few who had the courage to fight for what was rightfully theirs. There are several scams that go unnoticed. Thus, this number is bound to be higher.

Digital money, or cryptocurrency, is a relatively new financial asset that is sure to change and shape our future. Just over a decade old, its full potential is yet to be realized. Blockchain technology has been in the headlines, and many governments across the globe have taken notice.

Even as we speak, there are several people out there who have started to embrace cryptos as an alternative to secure some because they have been early investors, while others are resting in a struggle for desperation to hedge the effect of inflation.

Recovery guide for the crypto scam

Those who think that all hope is lost when they fall victim to a crypto-related scam do not have to feel disheartened. There are several crypto enthusiasts who wish to keep the dream and progress of cryptocurrency alive. They do this by actively becoming a part of the system to fight and secure stolen financial assets and return them to their rightful owners.

Although the number of these crypto enthusiasts is small, they have invested a lot of their resources in recovering from crypto fraud by setting up online crypto recovery firms. They have the technical know-how and aim for global acceptance of cryptocurrency by setting an example that these stolen crypto assets can be recovered.

They have the technology, human resources, and legal team all well-versed in the laws and regulations that surround the financial interests of an individual. With such dedicated professionals at hand, it won’t be long before many around the world will start trusting cryptocurrency and start investing and trading in the crypto market.

We need to acknowledge certain facts. Firstly, cryptocurrency was made to run on a decentralized platform for a quick and easy borderless transfer. Second, due to the decentralized network, the anonymity of the crypto users is assured. Third, to appreciate the value of any crypto, they are minted in limited quantities, just like precious metals like gold, silver, and so forth.

The price of gold appreciates as it is one of the rarest metals on earth. Thus, these cryptocurrencies were made with the same intention.

Understanding the Emotional and Practical Challenges

No matter what the intentions behind the creation of a cryptocurrency are, it acts like a double-edged sword; its advantage becomes its disadvantage.

The crypto market is highly volatile. It refrains from following the normal laws of the economy, except the law of supply and demand. The crypto market lacks circuit-breakers like those in the stock market. Thus, the price of crypto can increase by more than 100X and can fall to 500X within a matter of minutes.

You are on a rollercoaster when you watch the price of cryptocurrency rise and fall within the blink of an eye.

With such a risky financial asset, many retail investors are pulled over to make some substantial profits.

Imagine having such emotional ties to your crypto assets, and then someone steals them from you. You are not worried when the crypto market falls; you are confident that you will recover. But when they are stolen, you lose them all.

However, these cryptos can be tracked down and recovered, but you need to be on your toes. You also need special hardware and expertise to hunt down your lost crypto assets.

One of the biggest advantages of a crypto transaction is the anonymity of the crypto user. Crypto wallets are like your email address, but instead of one, you have two: one for sending your cryptos, called the private key, and the other for receiving cryptos, also called the public key.

With the help of these keys, the identity of the user can be traced. Con artists are known to operate multiple crypto accounts, so it can be cumbersome to track any lost cryptos. Thus, you need advanced software and hardware to trace them down.

Thus, it is important that you seek professional help since they are well-versed in the legal aspects of scams and can help you track down your lost crypto assets with urgency.

Providing Guidance and Support for Victims

The severity of the trauma caused can vary from person to person and from situation to situation. It is important to help those who fall victim to such crypto scams. It is a fact that seniors in our society fall easy prey to such scams; they need to be made aware of such scams that are prevalent in society.

It is also a fact that, due to shame, many victims do not come forward when they fall victim to a scam. The stigma of being ridiculed for not spotting the obvious scam can be hurtful. They choose to remain silent and endure the pain.

It is important that such individuals be counseled through professional help and guided to restore their lost confidence. They also need to be assured that their lost financial assets can also be recovered in time.

Understanding the Impact

As we have earlier mentioned, the trauma endured by these victims varies from person to person and situation to situation; another governing factor also included age.

As a young adult, you have a lot of time to recover your lost assets. Since you do not have much money, it might pinch you a bit when you fall victim to such a crypto scam. It might be annoying, but the fact remains that you have an entire life ahead of you to recover your lost assets.

As the responsibility increases, so does your wealth, and you end up investing more than you should in cryptocurrency. However, it can be more traumatic to lose your financial assets in a scam as your age increases.

Emotional Toll on Victims

It has become the norm in society to fall victim to a scam. Every three out of five Americans has been a victim of a scam in one way or another. Although many would suggest that you can recover from an online crypto scam, the fact remains that it still hurts you.

It can be a different story if the individual falls for a romance scam. Everyone envisions having someone close other than their trusted few to share the daily problems they may face, sometimes not with the intent of counseling but just to hear out.

They find someone special in the form of their love interest. Since society is moving at a fast pace, we have very little time to fulfill our quest to find that special someone through traditional means like meeting in a public place and making their moves.

Our digitized world has provided us with a lot of comfort that our forefathers never dreamed of. With the social media apps came a string of dating apps. Since con artists are more interested in making money, they use love as a weapon to disarm their victims and rip them off.

Such individuals lose faith in society and find it difficult to trust them. The very thought that some will take advantage of their gullible nature and run with their money can be very traumatizing.

Such individuals require special care and attention and provide an optimistic approach toward life to face other challenges that they may encounter. Rebuilding trust, faith, and confidence is the first step towards their mental recovery.

Financial Consequences

It does not matter if it is $100, $10,000, or even more; getting conned by someone can be very frustrating. Each of us wishes to upgrade our lifestyle, and when we are presented with a lifetime opportunity to make huge profits, it can be very tempting.

The amount of money that we would be making and the aim to get those things that we always dreamt of make us have an optimistic approach toward life. It gives us strength and hope to enjoy the things that we yearn for.

However, getting conned in a crypto scam can hit us hard. Being wrongly advised by the con artist as a financial advisor, insisting on diving into our emergency funds like college funds, mortgage funds, retirement funds, or even applying for loans with our home as collateral, can have serious consequences.

As a con artist, they only need your money, but for you, you are losing everything that you have worked for to date. The thought of being financially paralyzed can take a heavy toll on our lives. The loan taken needs to be repaid, or the consequences can be severe. The amount of money in our emergency fund that dries up can put us in a fix and make us wonder how to restore it, which can put anyone in an uneasy situation.

Importance of Swift Action

As we have mentioned earlier, handling trauma both mentally and financially can be devastating; however, taking quick actions can ensure the speedy recovery of your lost crypto assets. As we have mentioned, scammers have a knack for shifting their crypto wallets frequently, so it becomes important that you seek the help of a professional in the recovery of your lost cryptos before they are shifted again.

Immediate Response

Once you come to know that you have been a victim of a scam, you might experience an emotional rollercoaster. With rage, you might also destroy, which can help you recover your lost crypto assets. Thus, it is important that you keep your nerves calm and take the necessary actions. Follow the directions that are popular with cybersecurity after a scam is committed online:

Reporting to Authorities

When you think that you have been conned, it is important that you seek help from the government authorities.

• Get in touch with your local law enforcement agency and provide them with a detailed account of the entire fake crypto investment scheme that the scammer convinced you to invest in.
• If you are an American citizen, then get in touch with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and file a complaint with them.
• If you are of another nationality, then please go to your government site and try to seek government authorities for speedy crypto scam redressal.
• File a complaint with IC3, or the Internet Crime Complaint Center, and provide them with all the details regarding the scam.

Freezing Assets

After lodging complaints with all the requisite authorities, the next step you need to take is to get in touch with the financial institutes.

• Request a freeze on your bank accounts and credit cards until the investigation is completed.
• Get in touch with your credit card bureau and request a free report from them.
• Go through all the transactions upon receiving the bank statements, and search for any unauthorized transactions.
• Also, check if some unknown bank account has been opened under your name.

Documenting the Incident

One of the most important aspects of reporting the incident is to document it well. Try to include even the absurdest incident that might have taken place during your interaction with the con artist.

• Break all communication with the scammer.
• Write down in detail how you were contacted or approached about the crypto investment that led to a scam.
• Write down the name of the website and, if possible, the URL. Be careful regarding the character that you write down.
• Mention any physical address, the headquarters address, branch address, contact numbers, and also the client support center number.
• Mention their email address and any other email addresses that they have used to contact you.
• If the scammers have used any alternate number to contact you, do not hesitate to mention it.
• If scammers have any web presence, like social media platforms, messaging apps, crypto trading platforms, or any other mode to promote their business, then please mention them.
• Take screenshots of all the graphs, charts, and other graphical representations of the fake performance of the said crypto.
• Any communication between you and the scammers must be archived and presented when you approach the higher authorities and professionals while lodging complaints.
• Mention the crypto account and the wire transfer account of the scammer.
• Mention your bank account number and the crypto wallet address used in the scam.

Emotional Support

As we have mentioned earlier, the victim of a scam can find it difficult to cope with daily activity. It is necessary for close family and friends to provide emotional support for scam victims. They may even require professional help to make them forget the traumatic event that has occurred in their lives. You might have to visit your local counselor and request an appointment.

As a friend or a family member, you must remember that the victim has undergone a lot of stress and may require your assistance to get back on their feet again.

Strengthening Security Measures

If you wish to avoid falling victim to an online crypto scam, then there are a few measures that you must take.

• Avoid sharing all your details on social media platforms. It is a known fact that scammers usually gather all the information regarding their prospective victims before engaging with them.
• When you meet someone online, try not to share any sensitive information that you would not even dare share with your close family or friend circle.
• When someone is all of a sudden prompting you to invest in a crypto investment scheme, it is better that you do not entertain them.
• If you happen to meet someone online who happens to stay a flight or two away, then use caution.
• Be wary of the compliments you receive online; scammers are known to inflate your ego through smooth talk.
• Never share your crypto account or bank account details with someone you have just met. It is better to keep your financial details to yourself rather than share them with a stranger.
• Do a background search on any investment opportunity that comes your way.
• Also, if someone constantly wants you to provide money in one way or another, then you can be sure that there is a scammer lurking in your life.
• Always store your cryptos in a cold wallet rather than a hot one.
• Research and invest in a cold crypto wallet with a multi-factor authentication security feature. Accessing can be a pain at times, but at least your cryptos are safe with you.

Financial Recovery

Besides relying on government officials to recover your lost crypto assets, you can also take advantage of online crypto recovery agencies. As we have mentioned earlier, these professionals are well-equipped with the latest technology and have good knowledge regarding the crypto industry as a whole. Their legal team is also updated with the latest crypto regulations and has a good understanding of the financial system.

The advantage here is that the government resources are thinly spread, and thus they may not provide the necessary time for your crypto recovery process. Finding a reputed crypto recovery firm can help you speed up your crypto asset recovery process.

Spreading Awareness

There is gold on the internet. You can find extensive articles that cover a lot of scams that are prevalent in society. There are a lot of articles on distinguishing between legitimate and fake crypto investment opportunities. You can also find a reputed online crypto broker if you wish to invest and subsequently trade in the crypto market.

However, remember the golden rule of doing extensive research before settling on subscribing to a crypto broker or brokerage service.

Preventive Measures

One of the best ways to avoid falling victim to a crypto scam is to arm yourself with all the possible knowledge. Preventing future crypto scams can be easily achieved by gathering a lot of information regarding how the scams are carried out.

You can always visit Financial Money Recovery, a crypto recovery firm that will help you recover your lost crypto assets. We have experts who not only help you recover lost crypto assets but also help you regain your lost confidence.

We have a legal team that will help you construct a case based on the evidence that you provide so that you can bring the scammer to justice.

We have extensive articles and blogs written by our experts, who know the inside and out of cryptocurrency. You can also take advantage of the trading strategies that are mentioned on our website.

Final thoughts

It is easy for anyone to fall prey to an online crypto scam. What steps you take later will determine how you react and what steps you take to reclaim what is yours. You have several options in your hands to reclaim your lost crypto assets.

If you are interested in cryptocurrency with an aim for wealth creation, then you can find several topics that will help you enrich your knowledge and make informed decisions while crafting a strategy and executing trades in the crypto market.