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Updated on February 26, 2019 by SCARS|RSN Romance Scams Now Editorial Team

SCARS|RSN™ Guide: Hiring Private Investigators To Track Scammers

The Question Is: Should You Hire An Investigator To Track Down Your Scammer?

This is a very loaded question. Meaning it implies many things, not all of them good.

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 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)?

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

You interacted with a series of fake identities – one or more
Nothing you were told was the truth
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
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
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 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 & scam baiting, or increasing the trauma you already experienced because of frustration that will come from failure.

Hire A Detective

Yes, it is possible to hunt them down.

There are real 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, because the 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. 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!

We have used people in the past, and there is even a verified SCARS Member agency in Germany that is reliable (you can contact us by email for their identity if you want – at [email protected]).

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

Yes, you can spend money to track them down.

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 many cases the local police will want money to investigate – this can be yet again another scam. However, less than a handful of scammers are ever arrested because of this.

Most Scammer Arrests Are The Result Of Two Main Actions:

1. Properly reporting scammers: to your local police, to your national police (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 towards 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.

This also includes that their government prosecutors have access to the SCARS|CDN™ Cybercriminal Data Network databases collected through Anyscam.com » and our other reporting points (such as RomanceScamsNow.com » also). 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 dozens of arrests a week – over 21,000 arrests in 2018.

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 fooled. That is what you scam was initially before the heavy manipulation was employed to hold you in the fantasy. That means you have to look at your decisions more 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 and in rare cases get one or two people arrested, but in the process spend thousands more. You will also be putting your recovery on hold while you follow this goose chase.

However, The Choice Is Always Yours

Just remember that you lead 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 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.

Just Leave Them Alone!

You can learn more here »

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.

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 thousands 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, Madness, 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.

We wish you well and all the best.

SCARS|RSN™ Team
A SCARS Division
Miami Florida U.S.A.

TAGS: Scams, Scammers, Romance Scams, Nigerian Scammers, Ghana Scammers, African Scammers, Fraudsters, Online Fraud, Tracking Scammers, Arresting Scammers, Private Detectives, Investigation, Investigators, Law Enforcement, FBI, Europol, Anyscam, SCARS|CDN, RomanceScamsNow.com, SCARS|RSN, SCARS, EFCC, Local Police,

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Tell us about your experiences with Romance Scammers in our Scams Discussion Forum on Facebook »

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FAQ: How Do You Properly Report Scammers?

It is essential that law enforcement knows about scams & scammers, even though there is nothing (in most cases) that they can do.

Always report scams involving money lost or where you received money to:

Local Police – ask them to take an “informational” police report – say you need it for your insurance
Your National Police or FBI (www.IC3.gov »)
The SCARS|CDN™ Cybercriminal Data Network – Worldwide Reporting Network HERE » or on www.Anyscam.com »

This helps your government understand the problem, and allows law enforcement to add scammers on watch lists worldwide.

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Visit our NEW Main SCARS|RSN Facebook page for much more information about scams and online crime: www.facebook.com/RSN.Main.News.And.Inromation.Home.Page »

To learn more about SCARS visit www.AgainstScams.org

Please be sure to report all scammers HERE » or on www.Anyscam.com »

All original content is Copyright © 1991 – 2019 SCARS All Rights Reserved Worldwide & Webwide – SCARS|RSN/Romance Scams Now & SCARS/Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams are all trademarks of Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Incorporated (formerly the Society of Citizens Against Romance Scams)

Legal Notices:

SCARS|RSN, RSN, Romance Scams Now, SCARS|WORLDWIDE, SCARS|GLOBAL, SCARS, Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams, Society of Citizens Against Romance Scams, SCARS|ANYSCAM, Project Anyscam, Anyscam, SCARS|GOFCH, GOFCH, SCARS|CHINA, SCARS|CDN, SCARS|UK, SCARS Cybercriminal Data Network, Cobalt Alert, Scam Victims Support Group, are all trademarks of Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Incorporated.

Contact the law firm for the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Incorporated by email at [email protected]

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SCARS|RSN Romance Scams Now Editorial Team

Romance Scams Avoidance Education & Scam Victims' Assistance & Support Organization at SCARS|RSN™ Romance Scams Now™ is a division of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams™ [SCARS]

SCARS|RSN™ RomanceScamsNow.com™ is the official knowledge and victims' support publication of the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams™ Incorporated [SCARS]™ It is edited and published by the SCARS|RSN Team, a division of SCARS. SCARS is the world's leading anti-scam charitable nonprofit nongovernmental organization, based in Miami Florida U.S.A. Its founder has been involved in combating online fraud since 1991. SCARS™ - the Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. is a charitable nonprofit nongovernmental organization (NGO) dedicated to advocating victim's causes and changing government and law enforcement attitudes toward online fraud for good! Please join us in becoming a member of SCARS - it's free! Add your voice so that the world will listen at last - just go to www.AgainstScams.org. The SCARS|RSN website and all of our publications (including social media) are maintained by our own staff employees and volunteers to provide you the most up to date information about scams & scammers from around the world. We show you how to avoid them or recover from them. SCARS is the only registered online crime victims' assistance & support organization in the world. Be sure to report scammers here. Also, visit our main Facebook page for more information about romance scams.