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Safety Academy · Story 11 · Recovery scams

Lost money. Found another scam.

Someone promises to recover Penny’s loss, for one small advance fee.

Estimated 4 min read

RECOVERY SCAMS6 scenes

Penny looks for help after losing 100 USDC.

After a 100 USDC loss, Penny saves her messages and transaction details and looks for official help. An unsolicited message arrives: “We found your funds.” It is exactly what she wants to hear.

Penny
“I want someone to tell me it can be fixed.”
Illustration: Penny looks for help after losing 100 USDC.

People seeking help after a loss can be targeted again.

A “recovery expert” promises a guaranteed return.

The sender offers guaranteed recovery for 40 USDC upfront. Its proof is a screenshot of a public transaction. The scammer calls this expertise; the explorer calls it a free lookup.

The Scammer
“I specialise in recovering your remaining balance.”
Illustration: A “recovery expert” promises a guaranteed return.

Seeing a transaction does not establish control over its recipient or funds.

The expert adds a release fee and a signature.

Before Penny pays, the helper mentions a further release fee and asks her to sign at recover-now.example. The rescue already has more conditions than the original promise.

Penny
“One fee has already become two.”
Illustration: The expert adds a release fee and a signature.

Do not send money or sign with an unknown service to unlock promised recovery.

Captain Harold shows what tracing can and cannot do.

Captain Harold explains that tracing public movements may provide clues. Returning or freezing funds requires actual control or authority. An address report cannot itself reverse a blockchain transfer.

Captain Harold
“A trace can show where it went. It cannot promise to bring it back.”
Illustration: Captain Harold shows what tracing can and cannot do.

An address report alone cannot reverse a blockchain transfer.

Penny reports through official channels.

Penny declines the service, preserves the evidence and contacts authorities or relevant exchange support through independently verified channels. She gives no recovery phrase and signs nothing for the stranger.

Penny
“Evidence goes in the report. My phrase does not.”
Illustration: Penny reports through official channels.

A report can support an investigation. It is not a promise of reimbursement.

The second scam gets nothing.

The original loss is not recovered in this story. The second scam receives neither 40 USDC nor wallet access. Penny has kept an expensive problem from buying itself a sequel.

Penny
“No sequel. The first one was bad enough.”
Illustration: The second scam gets nothing.

The habit: be especially cautious of guaranteed recovery and advance fees.

The useful bit

After a loss, a guaranteed rescue can become the next scam.

  1. Anyone who guarantees to recover your money, or wants a fee up front, is the next scam.
  2. Do not pay, do not share recovery words, do not sign anything to 'unlock' a recovery.
  3. Save the evidence and go to the authorities or the exchange yourself. Tracing money cannot undo a transfer.

I already did this

If you paid the helper, stop fees and save messages and transaction records for a fraud report. If you signed or granted permissions, use MetaMask’s guides to review allowances and get incident help. Closing the site does not cancel spending authority. Shared recovery words require the compromised-wallet response. Recovery is not guaranteed.

Sources & further reading