You all know what you felt after you discovered your scam. Heartache, despair, rage and anger, depression. The whole range of traumatic emotions that follow something like this. But few foresee the long-term consequences to their lives from giving away the amounts of money that some do.

Some victims give away huge sums of money, from thousands to over a million. In our website and social media pages, you will find articles that explain why it happened and the psychological impact of it, but there are also – in some cases severe – financial and lifestyle consequences as well.

We know that scams are both an emotional dependency that results in grief after it ends, as well as an addiction that results in withdrawal after it is over. There have been massive amounts written about the impact on people’s lives when they experience these things. But couple the grief, the withdrawal, with the large financial losses together and for many, it is a recipe for personal disaster.

Those That Get Off Easy

For some, the amounts they sent to scammers were relatively small from hundreds to a few thousand. They can absorb the loss with only the psychological damage. These are the ones that get off easy, though it may not feel that way to them. They will, however, recover financially relatively quickly.

Those That Scrape By

For some, the amount of money was serious. It threatened their future and maybe even stole it. But they still have employment or the ability to survive with the income they still have. Some will have to file bankruptcy to solve their financial crisis. Of perhaps family and friends chip in to help them get through. It may have been a close call, but they survived. Though they may never recover from the financial loss, they can at least keep going.

Those That Fail

The saddest are those that gave away everything and have neither the means to stay afloat or the circle of friends that can help. We have seen countless examples of victims who have lost everything, including homes and cars, and even the ability to put food on the table. Many have literally become homeless. These are the fallen, that have been so hard hit by their loss of money and the emotional impact that there is no coming back.

The worst part of this is that it is not always immediate. For some, it can take years of spiraling down before they hit bottom, and usually by that time they have no resources left. They exhausted everything possible but it was never