Greg's Corner

BBB warns scam victims may be on a “sucker’s list”

By Greg Collier

It’s tough being a scam victim. Not only have you lost money that you needed for something important, but you lost it to a con artist. Maybe you thought you could see a scam coming from a mile away, yet you fell for it anyway. To make matters worse, it’s embarrassing to admit that you’ve been scammed. You might even be too embarrassed to go to the police to try to get your money back. This keeps people in your community from knowing about the scam, which means they could fall victim to the scam as well. But you came forward, which you should be commended for. However, coming forward may also have an unwelcome side effect.

The Better Business Bureau is warning scam victims about potentially being scammed a second time. This scam, known as the recovery scam, specifically targets people who have previously fallen prey to other scams. Typically, recovery scammers would search for someone on social media who may have mentioned they fell for a scam. The scammers would then offer their services to recover the victim’s money for an upfront fee, of course. If a victim were to pay the recovery scammer, the scammer would disappear with the victim’s money. We’ve seen this previously a lot on Instagram. We’ve even seen it on our own social media accounts when we post about scams.

The BBB is now warning that it’s not just social media scam victims have to worry about. According to the BBB, scammers now have what’s called a ‘sucker’s list’. This is a list of scam victims that’s being traded around by scammers. This list makes any scam victim a potential target for future scams.

Scammers are also setting up fake websites promoting themselves as a scam recovery service.

Please keep in mind, there is no such thing as a scam recovery service. The best way to recover your losses is to go to the police. But be aware, that in the vast majority of cases, once a victim has lost money to a scammer, it’s gone for good.

If you’ve been the victim of a scam, you may want to refrain from posting about it on social media, as this could attract recovery scammers. Instead, report it to your local police and allow them to warn your community.