About 5%-10% or More Scam Victims Will Be Scammed Again
The very sad truth is that many scam victims are scammed over and over. Our analysis shows that the average is about 3.4 times.
However, it is hardest to help those that end their scam, begin recovery, and then let their emotions continue to take control of them – leading them into still more 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.!
PLEASE NOTE: This is not intended for first-time victims – this is intended for those victims that relapse into new scams after beginning recovery! if you were a victim of more than one scam and were already on the path of recovery and stayed there then this is also not for you
THIS IS FOR VICTIMS WHO WERE RECOVERING FROM THEIR FIRST SCAM BUT DECIDED THEY KNEW BETTER!
What Is The Reality Of Scam Victim Relapse?
Relapse is when you do not recover – usually because you remain in shock, denialDenial Denial is a refusal or unwillingness to accept something or to accept reality. Refusal to admit the truth or reality of something, refusal to acknowledge something unpleasant; And as a term of Psychology: denial is a defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality., angerAnger Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, trigger, hurt or threat. About one-third of scam victims become trapped in anger for extended periods of time following a scam. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, such as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, and increased levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline. Some view anger as an emotion that triggers a part of the fight or flight response. Anger becomes the predominant feeling behaviorally, cognitively, and physiologically. Anger can have many physical and mental consequences. While most of those who experience anger explain its arousal as a result of "what has happened to them", psychologists point out that an angry person can very well be mistaken because anger causes a loss in self-monitoring capacity and objective observability., or otherwise the effect of believing you know better, and are scammed again.
Relapse is when you chose to throw away all that you have learned. Throw away the help and investment made by your family, friends, and support provider, because you know it will not happen again. Yet it did!
WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THIS TOPIC IN A VERY TRUTHFUL WAY – THIS MAY BE HARD, BUT IT IS THE TRUTH
In order to recover after a relapse, there are some very hard truths that the victim has to hear, or it will just happen again and again.
We know this because we have seen it thousands of times.
Any new victim that does not listen and believes they know best is delusional. Sorry, that is just the way it is.
This goes beyond simple cognitive biases or cognitive distortions. Delusions can cause a victim to repeat their previous steps and become a victim again and again because they are refusing to accept reality.
However, It Is Not Just About Delusions, It Is Also About Decisions
This time it is a different situation. Because the second time, after starting recovery and learning what is real and then completely disregarding it is the victim’s fault – because they decided to do it.
This is not about victim blamingVictim Blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. SCARS seeks to mitigate the prejudice against victims and the perception that victims are in any way responsible for the actions of offenders or scammers. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as the greater tendency to blame victims of rape than victims of robbery. Scam victims are often blamed by family & friends for the crime. Scam victims also engage in self-blame even though they are not to blame., but about helping the victim to see the truth that this time they decided to be scammed!
During the first scam ignorance & vulnerability created the opportunity for the criminalCriminal A criminal is any person who through a decision or act engages in a crime. This can be complicated, as many people break laws unknowingly, however, in our context, it is a person who makes a decision to engage in unlawful acts or to place themselves with others who do this. A criminal always has the ability to decide not to break the law, or if they initially engage in crime to stop doing it, but instead continues. to lure in the victim, and we all know what happens after that. Yes, there was a mistake made, but what followed after that was not the victim’s fault.
On the second, or the third (etc.) scam, the victim was not ignorant, and the previous vulnerabilities (while they may still have been there) did not matter. This time it was willful. It involved a set of decisions.
With Relapse A Victim Has To Willfully Decide:
In order for there to be more scams, a victim has to decide certain things:
- They know better than other people or experts
- They will not allow themselves to be scammed again – they know better
- They will ignore advice and scam avoidance information
- They want what the relationship offers – emotions, desires, what is missing from their life
- They do not care about the risks
These are five really bad decisions that a relapsing victim makes, and we have seen them a thousand times.
This Is The Baseline For The Second Recovery
In addition to everything that has to be understood and accepted the first time to recover, these new situations and decisions have to be acknowledged and accepted or recovery cannot be restarted.
If a victim allows themselves to be scammed again (or multiple times) they have to understand that they made the decision to allow it. No one else did.
Of course, the scammers were out there just waiting to pounce, but the victim knew that and ignored it because they knew better. This is no different than when an alcoholic has to admit after they relapse. In every real sense, all their previous progress is gone and they are starting over.
This time, not only do they have to admit that they are responsible for the relapse, but they decided willfully to do it, They have to admit that they ignored all sound advice and did it anyway.
This Is Much Harder To Admit Than Being Scammed The First Time
What this really means is admitting to themselves that they cannot trust themselves (at least not for a while.) This means giving up their agency after the second scam. While the recovery after the first scam was all about recovering their agency, after the second time it is about learning that their decision-making and agency are not trustworthy – at least not for a while – that they have to be given up until they prove again that they can trust themselves.
The path forward from a second scam is a hole much deeper than the first one. But on the other hand, it can be faster in some respects because some of the basics were learned the first time – even though they were ignored. Those can be applied and learned for the second (third, fourth, etc.) time around.
The greatest change is knowing that you cannot trust yourself, and by extension, others cannot trust you either. So trust has to be rebuilt but from a place quite different than the first time.
This was partly true the first time – and it was proven beyond any doubt – but trust is much hard to recover after the second time.
Successful preparation for re-recovery requires an honest analysis of a victim’s individual strengths and weaknesses. Such an evaluation establishes the framework in which all the aforementioned can be more effectively acknowledged. This can be very difficult but it can be achieved though.
First Recognize Your Delusions
The first thing to acknowledge is that you were delusional.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE DELUSIONAL?
It means that you are characterized by or holding idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of a mental disorder. Though delusional thinking can be the result of cognitive bias or cognitive distortions too.
After the first scam ended, we make it clear that most victims are suffering from significant 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.. Some victims suffer even more severe disorders.
But in most cases, the victim’s own personality plays the role in perpetuating the delusional beliefs, usually compounded by a rejection of support and assistance.
ADDRESSING THE DELUSIONS
This is not really the role of a victims’ assistance, support, or recovery provider. This is the role of a mental healthcare provider – a trauma counselor or therapist.
There may be deeper reasons why the victim allowed themselves to believe in the additional fantasy that turned into another scam, and a therapist is better able to explore those.
This is why SCARS recommends that all victims should see a local trauma counselor and at least be evaluated. This simple step could help prevent relapse.
Here are three resources to help find a therapist or counselor:
- www.opencounseling.com
- www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/trauma-and-ptsd
- www.betterhelp.com/therapists
Self-Help Steps A Relapsed Victim Can Take
REBUILD TRUST
The first step is adopting the position of total distrust because the previous trust went out the window. The only way to start rebuilding that is with complete honesty and transparency.
NEXT CONDUCT A PERSONAL EMOTIONAL INVENTORY:
Begin by asking the simple question why did you ignore everything and re-enter a place where you were at high risk, and then as the stranger unfolded the story. You have to be very explicit and brutally honest with yourself over this.
Think about what you were feeling as this unfolded,
- Why didn’t you immediately stop all contact?
- What was it you needed or wanted from this?
- What emotions and what expectations were driving you?
- What was your hope for the outcome?
- Why would you ignore everything to achieve it, which of course, you did.
Obviously, whatever it was that you wanted did not happen.
RELEARN EVERYTHING AGAIN
During the first pass through learning, support, and recovery, you were not really paying attention since you were disregarding much of the material. Now it is time to learn it fresh with new eyes and a real commitment.
Assume this time that you really do not know anything, because whatever knowledge you had before has been corrupted by your biases and delusional thinking.
ASK FORGIVENESSForgiveness What Is Forgiveness? Psychologists generally define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness.
People tried to help you the first time. They spent their time trying to educate you and lead you to the proper path – to recovery.
You actually betrayed them and broke your implicit promise that you were there to learn and recover. In other words, you not only lied but violated their trust.
How do you rebuild trust? You admit your mistakes, own them, and be 100% honest about everything going forward. People will likely give you a second chance, but just understand that you did damage to others.
FOLLOWING THE PATH
This time, what you think and believe matters very little. Because if you let your ego or pride come back into this you will fail again.
You will need to start again following the path of recovery but with the extra burden of relapse. Those who were scammed once and never relapsed will feel empathy for you but will also see you as quite different, you will need to expect this and accept it.
You will need to do what is required this time. To participate fully in your recovery and forget the “I know better” attitude, and be completely open with the support provider, other victims, and with your therapist.
Nothing can be hidden this time.
If you can do these things – hard as it is – you can prevent further relapses. As it was before, it is all up to you!
SCARS offers the factual information that anyone needs to recover. The only reason that more people do not recover is themselves.
We hope you make it through this the second time.
We wish you all the best.
Essential Tools 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
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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 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., 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 scams 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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By the Society of Citizens Against Relationship ScamsSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS. Inc.
A Worldwide Crime Victims Assistance & Crime Prevention Nonprofit Organization Headquartered In Miami Florida USA & Monterrey NL Mexico, with Partners In More Than 60 Countries
To Learn More, Volunteer, or Donate Visit: www.AgainstScams.org
To see ScammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer. Photos visit www.ScammerPhotos.com
Contact Us: Contact@AgainstScams.org
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