Fraud Recovery Fraud
Introduction
Fraud recovery fraud, also known as double-dipping or fraud within fraud, refers to a deceptive practice where individuals or organisations attempt to defraud others who have already been victims of fraud.
It involves exploiting the vulnerability of individuals, or organisations, who have suffered financial losses from a previous fraudulent incident by offering fraudulent recovery services.
Here's how fraud recovery fraud typically works:
1. Targeting Victims:
Fraudsters identify individuals or organisations who have fallen victim to fraud in the past. They may obtain this information through various means, including purchasing lists of potential targets from other criminals, hacking databases, or even posing as legitimate recovery service providers.
2. Promising Assistance:
The fraudsters approach the victims, posing as recovery experts or firms specialising in recovering lost funds. They convince the victims that they have the expertise, skills, and connections to retrieve the lost money or assets. They may produce false business cards, LinkedIn profiles or CV to convince you.
3. Requesting Upfront Fees:
To initiate the recovery process, fraud recovery fraudsters demand upfront fees from the victims. They may claim these fees are required for legal or administrative purposes, promising that they will be fully reimbursed once the recovery is successful.
4. False Progress Updates:
Once the victims have paid the upfront fees, the fraudsters provide regular progress updates to maintain the illusion of a legitimate recovery operation. These updates may involve fabricated documents, misleading communication, or false claims of negotiations/action with the original fraudsters. These updates may be provided via false Customer Service portal.
5. Additional Demands:
As the recovery process continues, the fraudsters may request additional payments from the victims. They justify these requests by citing unforeseen legal fees or expenses, unexpected complications, or additional resources/time needed to complete the recovery.
6. Disappearing Act:
After extracting as much money as possible from the victims, the fraudsters suddenly vanish. They cut off all communication and cannot be reached by the victims, who are left with further financial losses and no hope of recovering their initial losses.
Fraud recovery fraud is a particularly malicious form of fraud as it preys on the vulnerability and desperation of victims who are already dealing with the aftermath of being defrauded. To avoid falling victim to such scams, it is essential to exercise caution when approached by recovery service providers.
Verify the legitimacy of the company or individual, check their credentials, and never pay upfront fees without thorough research and due diligence. Shieldpay do not offer Fraud Recovery services.
If you have previously been affected by fraud and you are contacted by persons purporting to work for Shieldpay who state they can help to recover funds lost to a previous fraud, this is a scam, and you are encouraged to report this to Action Fraud.
It is also worth noting that Shieldpay do not discuss, nor share, sensitive information, such as transaction payment details, through social media messaging channels. If you are concerned about any Shieldpay communication received from Shieldpay, please confirm the legitimacy of the request before sharing any personal information or initiating a payment. For fraud related concerns, please contact fraud@shieldpay.com.