
SCARS Institute’s Encyclopedia of Scams™ Published Continuously for 25 Years

Recovery from Scams – Article Catalog
The Pathway for Recovering Scam Victims
From the basics to self-help to moderated professional recovery!
Learn what recovering from a relationship scam is all about!
A SCARS Topic Collection
After The Scam, Your Life Is In Chaos!
Impulses Are Driving You In All Directions But There Is A Right Path For Scam Victims!
After your scam, you have to gain enough control and commitment to be able to select a recovery path. It does not matter if it is through trauma counseling, therapy, a qualified support group, or via a self-help method – what matters is that you understand the fact that trauma does not go away by itself and every victim needs help.
This page will provide a catalog of our articles regarding scam victim recovery topics. We recommend that every scam victim read them so that you can be better informed of the choices in front of you.
Disclaimer: All of these articles are provided for educational & “entertainment” purposes – we have to say that. We are a Crime Victims’ Assistance Provider and do not provide psychological or mental healthcare – we do not offer counseling or therapy services. This information is intended to help you become aware of these topics and find a direction for your own research, or to have topics to discuss and explore with your own mental healthcare professional. These are generalized and may not apply to you.
We will update this catalog from time to time as new articles are added or recategorized.
The Scam Ends
Immediately After The Scam Ends
- 3 Steps For New Victims
- A Scam Victim’s Checklist
- After-Scam Reality Check!
- Understanding The Hard Times After The Scam
- How To Explain It To Others
- Crisis Help Hotlines: When You Need To Talk To Someone
- There Are Real Monsters Online
- Confronting Scammers & The Guilt Or Flip Scam
- The Face In The Photo: Leave The Real Person Alone!
- What Does It Mean To Be A Scammer?
- Victim Vulnerability After The Scam – Physical Risks
What’s Next?
The Next Phase
- Scam Victim Recovery Is Not A Mystery
- Next Steps – Protect Your Financial Identity
- 4 Steps To Controlling Scam Victim Debt
- Keeping Secrets Increases Trauma
- From Victim To Survivor
- For Married Scam Victims & Their Spouses
- Being A Scam Victim & Getting Support
- Losing Control
- Beware Of Scam Victim Saviors
- Choose Wisely What Anti-Scam Groups You Follow
- You Made A Mistake
After-Scam Emotions & Distress
In The Aftermath:
- After The Scam Comes Disaster
- After A Scam, No One Can Tell You How You Will React
- Psychological Shock – After A Scam & In The Future
- Dissociative Amnesia
- Emotional Danger After The Scam
- 10 Steps To Breaking Free & Beginning Your Recovery
- Support & Information For New Scam Victims
- Understanding A Romance Scam
- What Can You Expect After A Scam
- Stop Thinking
- Why Are You Here?
- How To Know If You Are In Scam or Recovery Denial?
- Coping with the Reality of Crime Victimization
- Signs of Good & Bad Scam Victim Emotional Health
- Managing Your Emotional 5 Saboteurs
End The Manipulation
Post-Scam Manipulation:
- The Scam Is Over But You Are Still Being Manipulated
- Threats And Your Local Risk
- Scammer Threats
- Scammer Threats & Blackmail
- Threats From Scammers
- Call It What It Is!
- Commentary About Learning And Recovery
- After A Romance Scam Comes More Scams
- Scammer Name-Calling – Please Just Stop It!
- There Is No “He” Or “She” In Romance Scams
- Living under Manipulation for Too Long Leaves Victims …
Recovery & Becoming A Survivor
Recovery & The Path To Becoming A Survivor:
- How Do You Get Closure?
- How Can You Explain What Happened To Family And Friends?
- Getting The Person Back That You Once Were …
- Do You Believe In Prophecies?
- Knowledge Matters To Scam Victims
- Who’s Job Is It?
- Taking Care Of Yourself
- Write A Letter To Your Scammer – Say What You Feel!
- You Are The Only Person That Can Prevent Your Recovery
- How The World Changed For Scam Victims With The Pandemic Effect
- The Hardest Subject – The Truth
- What Is The Difference Between A Scam Victim And A Scam Survivor?
- Forgiveness
- Resilience, Recovery And Romance Scam Victims
Recovery Program
Self-Help Approach:
- The SCARS STEPS Program [Pending – Being Revised]
- Your Journey To Recovery
- What Does Recovery Mean For A Scam Victim?
- Jay Shetty on Letting Go!
- Phases Of Recovery
- Knowledge Matters To Scam Victims
- Surviving The Change: Scams Turn Lives Upside Down
- NEW for Scam Victims – The Power of Journaling in Your Scam Recovery
- Assistance & Support Model
- Removing The Face Of Your Scammer
- Desensitizing
- Dating Scams and Addiction
Recovery Tools
Recovery Tools:
- Humor As A Tool In Scam Victim Recovery
- Helping Others
- Clothes As Therapy For Scam Victims: When & How Does Enclothed Cognition Work?
- Desensitizing
- Removing The Face Of Your Scammer
- Taking Care Of Yourself
- Write A Letter To Your Scammer – Say What You Feel!
- The Scam Victim’s Mantra
- The Keys to Motivating Yourself After a SCAM!
- Sharing Your Scam Story
- Using Rituals To Help Scam Victims To Recover!
- Forgiveness For Scam Victims: Letting Go Of Hate And Bitterness
Points Of View
Changing & Rethinking:
- The “Pig Pen” Syndrome
- From Pain to Power – Crime Victims Take Action
- Victims As Activists & Why Many Scam Victims Should Delay Or Not Become One
- The Hardest Subject – The Truth
- Are Victims Fraudsters Too?
- A Scam Victim’s 7 Deadly Sins
- Good vs. Bad While Recovering
- Victim Bashing or Blaming
- Should You Try To Find Out The Real Name For Your Scammer?
- Failure Is A Choice
- Why You Can’t Stop Looking At The Stolen Face
- Naming & Shaming Scammers!
- Humor As A Recovery Tool
- Three Main Causes Of Anger In Scam Victims
Returning To Danger
Recidivism & Re-Scamming:
- You Can Still Be Scammed! Over And Over!
- The Odds Of Being Scammed Again
- You Have Been Scammed – So Back To Online Dating
- Repeating The Scam – Engaging In Risky Behavior Over & Over
- Commentary On Being Scammed Again
- Scam Fetishists or Willing Victims?
- Romance Scammer As A Consort
- Becoming Scam Junkie
- Do You Hate Your Scammer?
- Obsessive Scammer Exposing
- SCARS Position Statement Against Scambaiting
- You Can Still Be Scammed! Over And Over!
- Stages Of A Victim’s Experience Without Support
- Rescamming
Married Victim Recovery
Financial Recovery
Control Your Money & Your Future:
- Urgent Financial Assistance For Scam Victims
- Crime Victim Compensation Information – USA, UK, Canada
- 4 Steps To Controlling Scam Victim Debt
- Scam Victims Debt Part 1 – Recognize It, Confront It, Control It, Survive It!
- Scam Victims Debt Part 2: Debt Collection Scams & Managing Real Collections
- Scam Victims Debt Part 3 – Collections & Your Rights
- Scam Victim Debt Part 4: IRS/Tax Debt
- SCARS Next Steps™ – You Gave The Scammer Your Information?
- Giving Out Your Banking Information – Scam Warning
- Does Being A Scam Victim Affect Your Credit Score?
- Reclaiming Financial Control After A Scam
- Money Recovery – What Is Real & What Is Not!
- Suing Your Money Mule or Scammer
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Table of Contents
- Recovery from Scams – Article Catalog
- After The Scam, Your Life Is In Chaos!
- Impulses Are Driving You In All Directions But There Is A Right Path For Scam Victims!
- Latest Victim Recovery Articles
- SCARS Webinars [VIDEOS]
- The Scam Ends
- What’s Next?
- After-Scam Emotions & Distress
- End The Manipulation
- Recovery & Becoming A Survivor
- Recovery Program
- Recovery Tools
- Points Of View
- Returning To Danger
- Married Victim Recovery
- Financial Recovery
- Helping Others
- This Is A Perfect Example Of Why You Need To Preserve The Evidence
- Scam Victim Self-Help Do-It-Yourself Recovery Books
- SCARS Printed Books For Every Scam Survivor From SCARS Publishing
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on Retrospective Framing – A Cognitive Bias That Changes The Past – 2023: “Thank you for this great article. I have experienced a small portion of retrospective framing in the last days of…” Apr 23, 16:18
Important Information for New Scam Victims
- Please visit www.ScamVictimsSupport.org – a SCARS Website for New Scam Victims & Sextortion Victims
- Enroll in FREE SCARS Scam Survivor’s School now at www.SCARSeducation.org
- Please visit www.ScamPsychology.org – to more fully understand the psychological concepts involved in scams and scam victim recovery
If you are looking for local trauma counselors please visit counseling.AgainstScams.org or join SCARS for our counseling/therapy benefit: membership.AgainstScams.org
If you need to speak with someone now, you can dial 988 or find phone numbers for crisis hotlines all around the world here: www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines
A Note About Labeling!
We often use the term ‘scam victim’ in our articles, but this is a convenience to help those searching for information in search engines like Google. It is just a convenience and has no deeper meaning. If you have come through such an experience, YOU are a Survivor! It was not your fault. You are not alone! Axios!
A Question of Trust
At the SCARS Institute, we invite you to do your own research on the topics we speak about and publish, Our team investigates the subject being discussed, especially when it comes to understanding the scam victims-survivors experience. You can do Google searches but in many cases, you will have to wade through scientific papers and studies. However, remember that biases and perspectives matter and influence the outcome. Regardless, we encourage you to explore these topics as thoroughly as you can for your own awareness.
Statement About Victim Blaming
Some of our articles discuss various aspects of victims. This is both about better understanding victims (the science of victimology) and their behaviors and psychology. This helps us to educate victims/survivors about why these crimes happened and to not blame themselves, better develop recovery programs, and to help victims avoid scams in the future. At times this may sound like blaming the victim, but it does not blame scam victims, we are simply explaining the hows and whys of the experience victims have.
These articles, about the Psychology of Scams or Victim Psychology – meaning that all humans have psychological or cognitive characteristics in common that can either be exploited or work against us – help us all to understand the unique challenges victims face before, during, and after scams, fraud, or cybercrimes. These sometimes talk about some of the vulnerabilities the scammers exploit. Victims rarely have control of them or are even aware of them, until something like a scam happens and then they can learn how their mind works and how to overcome these mechanisms.
Articles like these help victims and others understand these processes and how to help prevent them from being exploited again or to help them recover more easily by understanding their post-scam behaviors. Learn more about the Psychology of Scams at www.ScamPsychology.org
Psychology Disclaimer:
All articles about psychology and the human brain on this website are for information & education only
The information provided in this article is intended for educational and self-help purposes only and should not be construed as a substitute for professional therapy or counseling.
While any self-help techniques outlined herein may be beneficial for scam victims seeking to recover from their experience and move towards recovery, it is important to consult with a qualified mental health professional before initiating any course of action. Each individual’s experience and needs are unique, and what works for one person may not be suitable for another.
Additionally, any approach may not be appropriate for individuals with certain pre-existing mental health conditions or trauma histories. It is advisable to seek guidance from a licensed therapist or counselor who can provide personalized support, guidance, and treatment tailored to your specific needs.
If you are experiencing significant distress or emotional difficulties related to a scam or other traumatic event, please consult your doctor or mental health provider for appropriate care and support.
Also read our SCARS Institute Statement about Professional Care for Scam Victims – click here to go to our ScamsNOW.com website.
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