(Last Updated On: March 24, 2022)

The RSN Guide To Being A Victim

This Is One Of Those Things That No One Will Tell You To Your Face!

Every day we are contacted by hundreds of victims – sometimes more than a thousand.

We deal with people during one of the worst times in their lives.

They have been violated and abused, and now they need help.

We get it. We know – because our team have been victims too.

We do our best to help every victim that comes to us.

We help those that are in shock.

We help those that are in pain.

We help those that are afraid.

But we can’t help those that are in a rage.

Supporting a victim is about compassion and understanding, it is also about communication and guidance.

Unfortunately angry victims will not accept information and guidance. It makes it very difficult to help them.

Why are we posting this?

Because we hope that every victim will recognize their level of anger, and if they are enraged and in hate, then they can please dial it down so we can help them.

They may not like the situation they are in, but we did not create that situation.

They may not want the result that they are going to get, but after a scam there are only a few options.

They may feel entitled to everything from getting their money back to getting the scammer investigated and arrested. But it just doesn’t happen that way most of the time.

We are professionals at what we do (SCARS/RSN Staff, our Volunteers, and SCARS Members), and we know how to support online crime victims.

But recognize that for the victim this is their first time being a scam victim – by definition that means they are amateurs at it.

Lots of people will try to leverage their anger, such as the scammer hate groups galore, but that is not what they need.

They need to understand that they can be helped with information, guidance, and support. But that is about the limit of anyone, including the FBI or local police.

The money is not coming back (in almost all cases).

The scammer is not going to be immediately arrested.

But victims still have responsibilities and obligations to themselves and to the people that are helping them – be it our team or other victims who have been through the same crisis and come out the other end. Respect and courtesy being the biggest essential of those.

Reporting scammers is a part of this. Just think about how much effort each victim put into the fake romance? Reporting only takes a few minutes – certainly no big deal – and it can lead to future arrests, or more importantly helping others learn from victims’ mistakes.

If they don’t want our help and want to go it on their own, we respect that, but please do not leave smoking ruins in their path. The people that are trying to help you deserve better than that.

We know this is hard, but with help it can be made better. With anger it can only be worse because the support people will walk away and you will be completely on your own to face it alone.

Chose wisely. Chose respect, and let us help you.

RSN/SCARS