The Question Is: Should You Hire A Private Investigator To Track Down Your Online Scammer?

The Answer Is Always No!

We are assuming that you mean the scammer behind the fake or stolen photo? Or do you mean the person pictured?

Let’s Start With The Scammer Behind The Fake Profile – Identities – The Stolen Photos!

The First Question Is A Big WHY? Why would you hire a Private Investigator?

Why do you want to hunt down the real identity of your scammers?  Remember that it is very likely that you were scammed by a team and that all of the information you have is false!

Let’s look at the basic assumptions about your scam:

1. You interacted with a series of fake identities – one or more
2. Nothing you were told was the truth
3. Unless you did a bank-to-bank wire transfer you probably do not even know who received the money – yes you can use fake names with MoneyGram and Western Union in some countries
4. The photos were stolen – even if the scammer admitted later the “truth” and showed you a “real” photo of them it can all still be lies
5. If they sent something (a gift) to you it was most likely with stolen credit cards

So what do you really know?

You were sold a nice fairytale. You were deceived into believing in a fabricated relationship or other scams. But almost nothing was real.

Every victim wants closure and justice, but the simple fact is that they are in short supply. Seeking these things for this kind of crime typically results in obsession, vigilantism & scambaiting, or increasing the trauma you already experienced because of the additional frustration that will come from failure.

Hire A Private Investigator? Please Don’t!

Yes, it may be possible to hunt them down. But most of the time you do not really have the information needed to do that.

There are real Private Investigators (detectives) out there that will take on these cases, and it is expensive.

No one YOU can find on social media or on the web is going to be trustworthy for two reasons

1. They are either going to be a scammer looking to get more money out of you, or
2. They are unlicensed individuals or businesses looking to exploit victims

Scammers hunt for victims they can scam again under the promise of recovering your money or identifying the scammer. Facebook has hundreds (thousands?) of fake detective agencies or Private Investigators. You will not be able to tell the differences remotely in most cases between an honest detective in Nigeria from a fake one, plus no matter how much you are paying the local detective, the scammers have more money and can buy them off!

In the case of a Private Investigator in your own country, they must be licensed to perform this kind of work. Most of the companies that claim to be doing investigations for victims are not licensed – this is not only dishonest, but it is also a crime too!

But Once You Have The Name Of Your Scammer Then What?

Yes, you can spend money to track them down, if you are lucky enough to find a real Private Investigator, but then what?

You can spend even more money to personally go to Africa or wherever and meet with the local police.

In most cases, this goes nowhere – mostly due to the poor quality of the evidence or the lack of real names used in the transactions. In somey cases the local police will be reluctant to investigate or they are corrupt and want money too- this can be yet again another scam. However, less than a handful of scammers are ever arrested because of this.

Here Are The 3 Main Reasons To Rely On Your Police:

1. Properly reporting scammers: to your local police, to your national police (FTC & FBI), and to Anyscam.com »

Reporting scammers serves several purposes:

• It helps governments – local and national – understand the magnitude and scope of these crimes, even if there is nothing they can do immediately, this helps them decide on budgets and resources.
• As evidence accumulates and is combined it leads to information that can be used to identify real individuals and in some cases even arrests. These are then also placed on watch lists for when they cross borders. Then they can be apprehended and tried.
• They can also be used by major international police agencies such as the FBI or Europol to work with local countries to sweep for scammer groups and cartels as was done so effectively in 2018 with thousands of arrests.
• Reporting also helps to identify the scammer’s middlemen or MULES. Removing them helps shut down a scammer’s operational network for a while.

2. Random Scammer arrests

Today in West Africa, most scammers are being arrested by randomness. Meaning that scammers are not being arrested because of complaints by victims but by the scammer’s own lifestyle or actions. In Nigeria, the EFCC and local police are looking for examples of scammer instant wealth and investigating. This is the first line of targeting scammers that make their new riches visible to the police. In fact, many scammers publicize their stolen money all over social media.

In addition, there are new technological processes that have been put in place (by SCARS & others) to identify individuals and groups involved in scamming completely independent of who their victims are.

Once a scammer is arrested, they can then go through the computers and phones, and other online accounts and compare that with reports to confirm scamming activity.

These tactics are resulting in thousands of arrests a week.

3. Perhaps most importantly, it may also result in the recovery of your money!

No amateur or unlicensed, or even licensed investigators are going to recover your money! This can only be done by the police, prosecutors, and courts.

Money is being recovered every day in this way. It may be hard when the local police do not have the knowledge or experience to do it, but this is changing rapidly.

We Are Not Telling You What To Do With Your Money

We cannot tell you that you may not be able to find and get a scammer arrested. It has happened. But the odds are very much against it.

We are advising you NOT to travel to the scammer’s country as this can be physically dangerous to you. Victims have been murdered or gone missing, and no one knows how many. It is simply not safe for you to play vigilante and try to hunt them down in their own backyard.

However, as we previously said, your personal number one goal should be to accept what has happened to you and focus on your future, regardless of how difficult that will be so that you can emotionally and psychologically recover from the trauma this crime caused in you.

Just remember one crucial thing! You are susceptible to obsession and being scammed again. The same vulnerabilities are working within you, plus now you have the effects of trauma. That means you have to look at your decisions much more carefully to make sure you are not acting impulsively or being fooled into yet another bad decision.

In short, we are telling you that yes it is possible to track them down (one in a billion chance) and in rare cases get one or two people arrested, but in the process spend thousands more of your money. You will also be putting your recovery on hold while you follow this goose chase. Not to mention you may be putting yourself in physical danger.

However, The Choice Is Always Yours

Just remember that you led yourself down one rabbit hole, and now you may be doing exactly the same thing again.

What If You Are Looking For The Real Person In The Photo?

STOP RIGHT THERE!

You do NOT have a relationship with the face in the photo. As much as you think you do you do not know that person.

You might like to know them or warn them that their photos are being used by scammers – but please trust us that they already know. They are also victims of the scammers. Just imagine how their lives have changed by hundreds or thousands of people contacting them to tell them they love them or hate them. Some have lost marriages because of this. You can learn more here

Just Leave Them Alone!

Getting Your Money Back

You may or may not recover financially, but the odds of getting your money back are almost non-existent. Even if the local government arrests the scammer they keep the money and assets. As hard as it is, you should accept that the money is gone.

Learn more here:

• SCARS Webinar: Money Recovery or Not? [VIDEO]
• SCARS Quick Guide To Money Recovery
• Money Recovery: According To INTERPOL It May Not Be Too Late To Recovery Your Money
• Can The Police Trace Cryptocurrency & Recover It?
• The Restitution Process for Victims of U.S. Federal Crimes
• Money Recovery & Investigative Scams Target Scam Victims

Summary

In summary, holding on to the obsession of the scammer or the face in the photo is not healthy for you.

We have helped millions to recover after their scams by accepting the truth of their situation and though it is difficult – to move on. In time you will get over this.

It Will Not Be Easy But You Can Get Through This!

The Alternatives Are Obsession, Mental Disorders, Or Never Recovering

If you are seriously considering spending more money chasing bad please discuss it with your family or friends or a local counselor or therapist.