I was Scammed! What do I do?

Updated: 10/10/2005 17:11
Hyip Monitor
So it happened. It always happens. IAE, but they manage to steal our money, and run away with it. Nothing can be done about it. Someone among all turns out to be scammed. Even due to the banal probability theory. Even the great ones were scammed! But what to do? What to do if it happened...


The main advice is – don't be confused. You won`t get back to the things happened. And then, be strong to read our article and if you are a kind of person not willing to give up, spend some time and contribute your share to the just cause of fighting scammers. How? That's what we are going to teach you right now.

We have 2 scenarios of your problem evolution, as well as 2 scenarios of responding to it. These two scenarios have been formed reasoning from the experience, we have, the one made up by thousands of investors, for the 5 years of the impetuous development of Internet investment, who treaded out not many ways of fighting the scammers.

The first scenario – 'people's' actions that lie in fraud prevention of 'anybody else', as well as destroying the possible scam (if there are no proofs so far, though everything points out that they will appear, but it will be too late to do anything). The second case – when investor is trying to stop scammers, is much more valuable, than the one, when he is just establishing the fact, cause it often happens that site is still working and there was a scam, then it's the matter of honor to make everything possible so that no one else suffered.

The second scenario – legal, legitimate methods to influence, i.e. writing to the authorities, dealing with investigations and preventions of scam activity online.

We'll possibly start our story with the first scenario, cause it prevails numerically. Agree with us, there are much more sneak-thieves here online that the large ones, and using the second scenario for the scammers, who stole 10 dollars from you is hardly expedient, though it is possible. :) And concerning the everyday investor`s life, everything adds up to preventing the scam, and moving ahead, and any further operations often are simply often unacceptable.

So then, how does every investor start? Of course he starts with hyipnews.com. :) Why? Because, simply following the link: you will contribute 50% to the success. What is your purpose on this stage? To warn and to stop. If you make a complaint report via the hyipnews form, your information will be investigated and if it actually proves to be valid, it will appear in the news line on the main page.

One report and so many results. Then your warning goes to the regular HYIP informational survey issue, published twice a week, and believe it – no other investors will fall for the bait of those, who scammed you. Besides, you can also post your message if there are only suspicions, it will also have its affect!

Let's say a couple of words concerning how to make a text. If you are really trying to stop the scam, you need to be well-grounded in your actions. First of all, mention all the information you have concerning the SCAM FACT. When was that (date), how was that? Maybe it's just a delay? When have you invested your funds?

How much did you invest (we have to make a conclusion if the alarm repeats, what exactly amounts the scammer misses)? Please, mention also how to contact you, what kind of mails the admin wrote you? It is important, maybe there`s something specific in these mails… though best of all is the name of the admin. :) Though IP from the mails will also do (where were the mails sent from)…

NB: Prove your complaints and accusations with the documents: screenshots of accounts in payments systems and member zones of hyip programs, provide with the mail correspondence. Send login and password to the member zone of the site you complain about to make it possible for us to check if the accusation of a HYIP is worth trusting or not.

The information about your relationships with a program is also useful. Everything is important and everything should be mentioned. Don`t expect that the message like that will be extremely effective: HYIP*** SCAM!!!! THEY ARE SCAMMERS. THE REAL SCAMMERS…

Now let's move ahead. Your purpose now – to spread the info. If investor doesn't use the search engine, he is definitely "living" on some forum and will certainly guess to verify the info via the search built-in search. That's why you should create the corresponding message on the forums. Sorry to say, many investors are simply lazy or don't have time for that.

We recommend you to search for the threads with the program that scammed you on these forums, than the message will be especially effective. Done.

Many investors have many friends, some of them even have their own mailing lists. If you don't read the lists, or have no friends – it is bad in itself. If you do – you should certainly warn them, make a kind of the mailing list, about the programs that arise your suspicion or, God forbid – those who have already scammed you. It is always useful.

When the time comes, all this information is gathered and you can understand what's going on. But if every investor will say: What can I do? Let the others work with that. 10 dollars is nothing for me! What's the use of these actions if I have already been scammed? In such a way scammers will scam again and again and again. And, watching their constant moves, we can recognize these scammers and they can be… defeated.

So, friends and mailing lists. Here we can prompt you that one can find private investors, keeping their online diaries. For instance, a friend of ours Frank and his great hyip-blog-investment-monitor.com. Send a letter, and someone will already be insured against the mistake. Contact Paul ([email protected]) and make a scam warning on the Hyip Navigator site.

Maybe it will be useful to publish your info in Yahoo! Groups. They are not hard to find, entering the HYIP word in the search or consult the review of ours, we posted the link to it below.

We are through with the info. Remember, information about programs, exchanging it – is the first key to success. If investors have this information they will be scammed less, and the awareness degree mainly depends on that. In case there`s a delay with the payouts, or the admin is silent – inform about it immediately. As the minimum to hyipnews.com.

And many things will be done. Believe it, it is not a self-advertisement. We see the things evenly and evenly we guarantee that this information will be seen by a large number of investors! You can find us on Gold Horizons, News Navigator quotes us, we have posts on any forums possible… your message will not be lost. But if you are lazy and let you being scammed, it will go on forever.

So, the final step that should be used if you made sure that the program is a scam (if it offered high interests, if it has standard site, usual pictures, and admin is silent) – you can draw such a conclusion even after the first payout delay, you won't be wrong. Site closure.

This procedure is extremely important cause many sites keep on working even after there's lots of information on all the forums that, saying they are all scammers. Of course the method we are going to describe now doesn't always work, and moreover it needs time, though if you attach other scammed investors, you will succeed.

Most hosting companies don't welcome locating such resources on their servers. They also don't want to have the sites, scamming others located on their hostings. So, you can be sure, they will meet you halfway. Though there should be more than 1 person and maximum information should be provided. Frankly speaking, if it's easily seen that the site has been gotcha designed and is offering 200% daily, well the quick-witted hosting admins will be right, closing the resource than achieving explanation.

You can know the hoster's name more often via the usual domain check via whois. For instance, following the address: http://www.whois.sc. You just need to know not the name of the site, you should know its IP, which can be accessed there as well. Then – everything is done practically. Follow the link in the whois card, and mail to hoster. Your colleagues mail as well.

In case everything is right, within some time you will see that the site is suspended. Maybe it will also be useful to mail the registrar, though he can hardly control it, that's why remember, that program should not be JUST NAMED, you should also give the domain name and IP received (when you post information on forums use the same method as well), cause some programs "rise from the dead" and are back scamming investors, as if nothing happened.

So, looks like these are all "popular methods". We'll be glad if you share your effective means, the ones we publish below. All they are going to be delivered to the readers of ours, we just don't post here the ones taking too much time or need special knowledge.

And now let us share some words about more highly tailored, though at the same time more high quality ways of fighting scams – namely, using sterner, more official weapon. :)

So, as for the official part of our second scenario. Let's suppose that you take a decision to act officially as well that will help you to recover losses, to take back money or, anyway to pay the scammers back with a real punishment. Don't expect that right after your message, hundreds detectives will rush to investigate your problem, that they will call you, ask and refer to investigating this mysterious case.

Everything is not like that at all. Most likely your message lies somewhere in the database and after the investigators will have a large number of critical information the investigation may start and… come to the logical end. Not less. Your evidence is nothing but evidence and in order to have it developed lots of facts are needed, real facts, not just empty words.

So, we can recommend you first of all to organize everyone, who was scammed and take all the papers needed. Your words are also useful, though they are just taken into consideration. And papers, facts, confirmed with documents – this is serious. Though these are details. Let's move on to the main things.

There are lots of useless, non-thematic resources… so we'll limit ourselves to giving you links and telling about the most famous, useful and interesting authorities, helping to investigate and prevent Internet-fraud.

The first ones in the list of those who try to fight the scam are two government organizations. Of course the first one is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (https://tips.fbi.gov), you will definitely be advised to complain about. In one of the nearest interviews we'll certainly try to investigate, how exactly this authority can help, where even from the link given it is clear that it is the question of TERRORISM… though there's an opinion that you can complain here.

Besides, FBI sounds solid and confidently… but we wouldn't recommend to appeal there. Moreover, the special organization was created along with FBI: Internet Crime Complain Center (IFCC), https://complaint.ic3.gov/, where it's just enough to push File a Complaint.
HYIP here relates to Investment Schemes Online and Business-Opportunity Schemes Online.

If you've been a target of a chain email scam, contact your Internet Service Provider and forward the email to the Federal Trade Commission at: [email protected]
It's very useful to fill out the report, following the address mentioned: http://68.166.162.20/repoform.htm, it doesn't just give other investors opportunity to find your scammer in the catalogue of scammers, though acts positively to the investigation start.

The NATIONAL FRAUD INFORMATION CENTER & INTERNET FRAUD WATCH was originally established in 1992 by the National Consumers League, the oldest nonprofit consumer organization in the United States, to fight the growing menace of telemarketing fraud by improving prevention and enforcement.

Then there goes specialization. :) If you come across MLM, except for the authorities mentioned above you should appeal here for instance: http://www.mlmwatchdog.com/complaints.html, you can inform about scam here, and this link will be added to the catalogue in order to avoid about scam continuation further on.

Rather high quality and useful resource that deals with fighting PYRAMIDS. Though there's one difficulty here. The thing is that too many programs can be got to the notion of pyramid, meaning that it can hardly be proved. That is you may tell that this is a pyramid and report about it, though when we talk about HYIP, partly about the game, then your accusation will just destroy a game, where many people may suffer. So the link is: http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/694266

This link will be rather useful for you: http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx, following it you will see an option to file a complaint against this or that scam program.

Summing up we must admit that the phrase "return nothing" in many respects is true speaking about your money. The money stolen via Internet is very hard to recover. But, there are chances to affect scammers justly and things like that, though by no means recovering your money. But there's a logical explanation to it.

For instance, how is it possible to prove that the money stolen should be returned to you? Where are the documents, testifying that scammers stole it from you… etc. So, despite the fact it can really happen, don't lose your hope. But… fighting scam at least in such a way (we were scammed – we reported) brings much benefit. And it's not just a "situational" avoiding scam, when your colleague doesn't invest, because you were scammed.

All this makes the repeated scam, clumsy work impossible. And you should agree that resources are needed for scam and it isn't just "taking a candy from a little girl", it is a game, a serious game of those, staying on the opposite sides of the truth, justice, the game, where finally good wins, because no matter how big money is, if it is dirty – they are dirty. Good luck. Be persistent and patient.

Unfortunately we must admit that all the info we wanted to offer you can't be included into the one issue. The material is too large. Though we won`t keep you in suspense long enough and in the next issue in 10 days we are going to publish the second part of this material, viz – methods of "legal" fight with scammers via the special authorities.
Stay with us.


About the author

Brett Sherpan has been working for seven years writing and editing for online and print media. He has held various editing and copywriting positions and can quickly and competently write copy for sales, marketing and editorial content. Brett is a consistently dependable team player, who thrives in a high-pressure environment, enjoying the challenges of meeting deadlines and am comfortable researching, writing and editing on a wide range of topics
You May Also Like