Scammed Twice: How a Fake ‘Recovery Agency’ Targeted a Victim — and Why We Got 81% Back

Months after losing money to a fake exchange, a Phoenix retiree got a call from an ‘asset recovery bureau’ that claimed to have already located her funds — for an upfront fee. Here’s how the second scam works, and why fast action made this one of our stronger recoveries.

Illustrative case study. Details are a dramatized composite based on real recovery patterns; the broker, client and figures are fictional and shown for education. Outcomes vary case by case.

How the scam unfolded

After her original loss was posted on a scam-report forum, she was contacted by Asset Reclaim Bureau, who said they were ‘working with blockchain investigators’ and had traced her stolen crypto. To ‘release’ it, she needed to pay a ‘legal processing fee’ — first by card, then by USDT as the fees escalated.

Where it went wrong

There were no recovered funds. Recovery scammers harvest victims from public complaint lists and charge for a service they never perform. When a new ‘tax clearance’ fee appeared, she searched the bureau’s name, found warnings, and contacted us.

“They knew exactly how much I’d lost and when. I thought that meant they were real. It just meant they’d read my complaint online.”— Client statement (illustrative)

How the recovery worked

1. 1
   Stopped the bleeding. Our first step was simple: pay nothing more. Legitimate recovery is never funded by upfront fees.
2. 2
   Actioned card chargebacks. Two of the fee payments were made by card; we helped her file chargebacks within the dispute window.
3. 3
   Traced the USDT fee. The USDT payment went to a wallet that later deposited to an exchange we could reach.
4. 4
   Filed a coordinated complaint. We packaged the card and on-chain evidence into a single report for the bank and the exchange.
5. 5
   Recovered most of the second loss. The chargebacks succeeded and the exchange returned the held USDT — 81% of the fees she’d paid.

Warning signs to remember

• Anyone who contacts you claiming to have already ‘found’ your stolen crypto.
• Upfront fees of any kind for recovery — legitimate firms don’t work that way.
• Pressure to pay ‘release,’ ‘legal’ or ‘tax clearance’ fees, especially in crypto.
• Detailed knowledge of your loss — it’s likely copied from a public complaint you posted.