How Scam Victims Can Deal With Fear And Panic Attacks
This article is addressed to new victims mostly. New victims, in the first couple of months after the scam ends, can be very fearful for their safety, sometimes the safety of family members, and especially about their future.
Of course, most scam victims have nothing to fear, even if scammers make threats and are very aggressive as the scam ends. That is just their way to silence you through fear. But also the time following the scam can invoke feelings of fear and panic, real or not.
IF YOU ARE AFRAID
If you are afraid call your local policeLocal Police The Local Police is your first responder in most countries. In most English-speaking countries and in Europe report to them first. In other countries look for your national cybercrime police units to report scams to. In the U.S., Canada, & Australia, you must report to the local police first. immediately. Even if you have not yet filed a police report about the fraudFraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain (money or other assets), or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. A fraud can also be a hoax, which is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim. do this. Tell them that you are the victim of fraud and that you are afraid for your life, and ask if they would send an officer to you.
Even if the fear is not real, treat it as if it is – at least until you can be assured that it is not. Also, read the rest of this article now, but later read our article on Scammer Threats to help you put this all in perspective.
Another option is to call your nation’s Crisis Hotline service. They are available in almost every country. In the U.S. call 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org
A PANIC ATTACK IS A FEELING OF SUDDEN AND INTENSE ANXIETY.
Panic attacks can also have physical symptoms, including shaking, feeling disorientated, nausea, rapid, irregular heartbeats, dry mouth, breathlessness, sweating, and dizziness. It does not have to have all of them, but it may.
The symptoms of a panic attack are not dangerous but can be very frightening. Especially when you are the victim of a crime.
They can make you feel as though you are having a heart attack, or that you are going to collapse or even die.
Most panic attacks last somewhere from five minutes to half an hour. However, if you are a scam victim – especially one that has been threatened (though that is not required) – they can last for a day or several days. Some victims live in fear for weeks.
HOW TO HANDLE A PANIC ATTACK
It is very important not to let your fear of panic attacks control you.
Panic attacks always pass and the symptoms are not a sign of anything harmful happening,
Tell yourself that the symptoms you’re experiencing are caused by anxiety.
Try to ride out the attack. Try to keep doing things. If possible, it’s important to try to remain in the situation until the anxiety has subsided.
Confront your fear. If you don’t run away from it, you’re giving yourself a chance to discover that nothing’s going to happen.
As the anxiety begins to pass, start to focus on your surroundings and continue to do what you were doing before.
If you’re having a short, sudden panic attack, it can be helpful to have someone with you, reassuring you that it will pass and the symptoms are nothing to worry about.
That can be a friend, family member, or even the police if you are truly afraid for your life. When having an attack call someone who can help talk you down.
If you do these things it will help.
A Breathing Exercise For Panic Attacks
If you’re breathing quickly during a panic attack, doing a breathing exercise can ease your other symptoms. You need to slow and deepen your breathing.
Try this:
- breathe in as slowly, deeply, and gently as you can, through your nose
- breathe out slowly, deeply, and gently through your mouth
- some people find it helpful to count steadily from one to five on each in-breath and each out-breath
- close your eyes and focus on your breathing
You should start to feel better in a few minutes. You may feel tired afterward since a panic attack is using huge amounts of energy.
Visit the No Panic website for another breathing exercise to calm panic – here is the link: Having a panic attack? – NoPanic
Ways To Prevent Panic Attacks
You need to try to work out what particular stress you might be under that could make your symptoms worse. Obviously, the fraud is the main stressor, but try to think if there is something specific that is causing your fear and panic. On this website is all the information you need to overcome your fear.
In addition, Dr. Tim McGuinness has written a book specifically for scam victims about FEAR that is available at http://shop.AgainstScams.org – you might consider getting it and the GREEN Book for self-help recovery together.
It’s important not to restrict your movements and daily activities. In other words, do not feed the fear!
- Doing breathing exercises every day will help to prevent panic attacks and relieve them when they are happening
- Regular exercise, especially aerobic exercise, will help you to manage stress levels, release tension, improve your mood and boost confidence
- Eat regular meals to stabilize your blood sugar levels
- Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and smoking – these can make panic attacks worse. Panic support groupsSupport Groups In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic, such as romance scams. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping strategies, to feel more empowered and for a sense of community. The help may take the form of providing and evaluating relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to and accepting others' experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks. A support group may also work to inform the public or engage in advocacy. They can be supervised or not. SCARS support groups are moderated by the SCARS Team and or volunteers. have useful advice about how you can effectively manage your attacks. Knowing that other people are experiencing the same feelings can be reassuring. Your GP can put you in touch with groups in your area
- Seeing a traumaTrauma Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety or other emotional shocks, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized. Trauma requires treatment, either through counseling or therapy or through trauma-oriented support programs, such as those offered by SCARS. counselor or therapist will be essential, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can identify and change the negative thought patterns that are feeding your panic attacks
Is It Panic Disorder?
For most scam victims fear appears almost immediately after the scam ends (within a week or two usually) and can last a month or two. Of course, every victim exhibits this differently. But if the fear persists, then it may have become something more than a panic attack.
If you feel constantly stressed and anxious, particularly about when your next panic attack may be, you may have panic disorder.
People with panic disorder may avoid situations that might cause a panic attack. They may also fear and avoid public spaces (agoraphobia).
This can be caused by your trauma and there is nothing to be ashamed about. Remember, you are the victim of a serious crime. If your attacks are happening time after time, seek the help of a trauma professional.
Resources
Here are directories and resources to help you find a trauma counselor or therapist:
To Learn More Also Look At Our Article Catalogs
SCARS Printed Books For Every Scam SurvivorSurvivor A Scam Survivor is a victim who has been able to fully accept the reality of their situation. That they were the victim of a crime and are not to blame. They are working on their emotional recovery and reduction of any trauma either on their own, through a qualified support organization, or through counseling or therapy. And has done their duty and reported the crime to their local police, national police, and on Anyscam.com From SCARS Publishing
Visit shop.AgainstScams.org
Each is based on our SCARS Team’s 32 plus years of experience.
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SCARS GREEN BOOK
Self-Help Self-Paced Recovery Program Guide
LEARN HOW TO RECOVER ON YOUR OWN
This program is designed to help scam victims struggling to recover on their own and for those who want to understand the overall process. You can be using other resources, such as trauma counselingCounseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. A mental health counselor (MHC), or counselor, is a person who works with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. Such persons may help individuals deal with issues associated with addiction and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging. They may also work with "Social Workers", "Psychiatrists", and "Psychologists". SCARS does not provide mental health counseling. or therapy, qualified support groups, or completely independent – on your own!
The SCARS Steps program is a complete program and is provided for the purpose of helping scam victims to overcome this experience. Throughout this SCARS Steps Program, we speak about issues and challenges that a victim may have and help guide them through their recovery. But each person is different and it is important to understand your own reasons for being vulnerable to being scammed.
After the trauma of being scammed, you need to take steps to recover and move on. This may be an alternative to counseling in the short term, but we still encourage you to seek out professional help & support. Throughout this SCARS Steps Program, we speak about issues, challenges, defects, or problems that a victim may have in a generalized way.
The SCARS GREEN BOOK will help you recover from your scam offline and it will always be there when you need it!
SCARS SLATE BOOK – Let Us Explain What Happened!
A Guide For Families & Friends Of Scam Victims
HOW TO HELP ROMANCE SCAM VICTIMS FOR FAMILIES & FRIENDS OF SCAM VICTIMS
This SCARS Publishing book represents a complete guide to help the families and friends understand how these scamsScams A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. work and how to help the victim.
The SCARS Slate Book should be purchased by family and friends to better understand what happened to the victim and the traumatic impact on them. But it can also be shared by the victim so that they do not have to explain to family and friends about the scam. This publication is to help others to help Scam Victims to make it through this traumatic experience and recover.
Each person is different and it is important to understand how relationship scamsRelationship Scam A Relationship Scam is a one-to-one criminal act that involves a trust relationship and uses deception & manipulation to get a victim to give to the criminal something of value, such as money! Click here to learn more: What Is A Relationship Scam? work and why people are vulnerable; to being scammed, how they were lured in, then groomed and manipulated. This understanding is essential in helping them through the process of ending the scam and then on to recovery. The SCARS Slate Book will provide the information necessary to help support a victim through this process.
SCARS RED BOOK
Your Personal Scam Evidence & Crime Record Organizer
ORGANIZE YOUR INFORMATION TO MAKE THE REPORTING PROCESS SIMPLE!
Helps you get and stay organized. This publication is to help Scam Victims organize their crime information. Complete this information before reporting to the police then bring this book with you
Before or after reporting to the police the RED BOOK gives you a dedicated tool to record all the essential facts of this crime. The Victim, the Scammers, the Money, and your Police interactions. Everything that really matters can be easily recorded for your immediate use and for the future!
As we have seen, money recovery/repayment programs can become available years after the scam ends and you need to keep all the details of this crime in case it is needed. We have also seen scammers being extradited to the U.S. and other countries, this will help in the event you testify or give statements, Additionally, this helps you have your information ready to qualify for victims’ benefits, compensation, or aid.
The Official SCARS RED BOOK is your way of recording all the important facts of this crime so that you do not lose essential information, Complete the RED BOOK then put it away with the confidence that you will have it if or when it is needed.
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