When money disappears into a fraud, the promise of getting it back brings instant relief. Scammers know that. Some of them target people who have already been burned. They claim the stolen money has been found, then ask for more money or more personal data.
Why recovery offers work on people who were already scammed
The Federal Trade Commission warns that scammers say they can help people who have lost money to a scam. Those offers can be scams themselves. A person who has just lost savings is looking for a fix. A message saying the money has been traced can sound like good news.
Impersonation does much of the work. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as the IC3, warns that scammers impersonate IC3 and FBI personnel to target people who have already been defrauded. They claim to have recovered lost funds. According to the IC3, that claim is a ruse to take more money or information. Scammers also use spoofed phone numbers, emails, and credentials of real agencies. A logo or an official-looking signature proves nothing.
One caution about scope. The sources behind this piece focus on recovery and impersonation scams. They do not describe fake retailer refunds, fake overpayment checks, or bank refund calls. Those exist, but this article does not cover them.
Common forms the scam takes
The IC3 describes a recovery follow-up scam. Someone who reported a fraud gets contacted on social media or a messaging app by a person posing as an FBI agent. The scammer sends a link to "update" the IC3 report. The link may contain malicious code, or it may be used to collect more financial data.
A second version uses a copycat complaint site. The IC3 says one spoofed site asked only for a name, phone number, email address, scam type, and estimated loss. Then it issued a reference number and said someone would be in touch. The form looked simple. That was the point, because the details it collected were enough to keep working a victim.
The IC3 also notes that scammers have used AI-generated videos of public figures to promote a fake complaint or recovery site. A polished video does not make a site real.
- An unsolicited offer to recover money you already lost
- A link to "update" a report or complaint
- A form that does not match the official IC3 intake process
Payment demands and pressure tactics
Be wary of any request to pay money in order to get money back. The sources do not set out a rule on fees for every agency, so treat the demand itself as a reason to stop and check through official channels.
The method of payment is another signal. According to IC3 reporting on government impersonation schemes, scammers ask for prepaid cards, couriers, bank wires, cryptocurrency, or cash fed into cryptocurrency kiosks. Anyone who asks for payment this way deserves suspicion.
The scale is large. From January 2025 to July 2026, the IC3 received nearly 61,000 complaints about law enforcement or government impersonation, with losses over $1.6 billion. In the same period, 6,833 complaints involved arrest or court-date threats, with losses of nearly $36 million. Scammers also push an urgent, aggressive tone and pressure people to keep the call secret from family, friends, banks, or police. Secrecy is a red flag on its own.
How to check an offer before you respond
Step away from the message first. Do not click the link, and do not call the number it gives you. The IC3 advises confirming a website address independently before entering any personal data. If someone offers to recover lost money, verify through official channels before you share information or pay.
For refunds tied to government cases, the FTC publishes a page of recent cases resulting in refunds. Checking whether a program is listed there is a reasonable step before responding to an offer. It will not cover every legitimate refund, so an absence there is a reason for caution, not proof of fraud.
Ask yourself two questions. Did a person or company contact you offering to recover money you lost? Is the website really the official government site? If you cannot answer yes to the second with confidence, do not enter details.
If you already paid or shared information
The sources used here do not lay out steps for people who already sent money or gave account details, so this article will not invent a procedure. A sensible starting point is to stop all contact with the person and keep every record: messages, phone numbers, transaction confirmations, and web addresses you were told to visit.
For next steps, look at the official fraud reporting pages of the FTC and the IC3, and contact your bank or card issuer using the number on your card or statement. Filing a report does not guarantee money comes back. It does leave a record, and the IC3 itself shows how much impersonation fraud is reported.
