What is Recovery Scam?

A recovery scam is a cruel second strike aimed at victims of an earlier scam. Fraudsters pose as “fund recovery experts”, hackers-for-hire, or even law enforcement, claiming they can trace and return your lost crypto. They demand an upfront fee or your wallet details, then take more money and deliver nothing.

This matters because losing money once makes people desperate, and that desperation is exactly what these scammers exploit. They often find victims by trawling public complaints about earlier scams.

Example: after you post about being scammed, someone messages claiming they helped others recover funds and can help you too, for a fee paid in advance. The recovery never happens, and the fee is gone.

Safety note: no legitimate service can reverse a completed blockchain transaction, because on-chain transfers are final. Anyone guaranteeing recovery for an upfront payment is running a scam. Never pay a stranger to recover funds and never share your seed phrase for “recovery.” Report the original theft to real authorities through official channels instead. Related terms include advance-fee scam, impersonation scam, pig butchering, and on-chain.