We Have Seen Recently That Law Enforcement Can Be Very Supportive Of Scam Victims!
But Not When They Lie Or Hide Information!
We know that reporting these crimes can be very hard. Scam Victims feel incredible shameShame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion typically associated with a negative evaluation of the self; withdrawal motivations; and feelings of distress, exposure, mistrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness., fear, and self-blameSelf-Blame 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 these crimes must be reported.
After nearly 23 years of continuing relationship scamRelationship 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? reporting to Federal authorities, yet still, only a tiny fraction of scam victims report these crimes. And when many of them are discovered, victims are not always truthful with law enforcement officers.
This is not only frustrating, but it is also dangerous for the public as a whole!
Imagine if all scam victims reported these crimes. There would be more attention paid to them by the government, law enforcement, the news media, and the public! People would be able to talk more easily about these subjects and prevent more victims. But (generally speaking) scam victims do not report these crimes – and this is true worldwide.
Our SCARS Managing Director, Dr. Tim McGuinness has been educating about 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? for 32 years and in all that time the situation has only marginally improved. “Pig ButcheringPig Butchering Sha Zhu Pan 殺主盤 “Pig Butchering” This is a scam type that originated in China involving the scammer developing a relationship with the victim - sometimes romantic sometimes not - and leading the victim to invest in a fake company or asset. These typically target smart younger women. Scams are being reported more than romance or other forms of scams. PBS are up to about 5-6% of scam victims reporting their crimes, but regular romance scams are still about 1-3% of these scam victims reporting. And sadly, this is a big part of why the world is so unprepared to fight this crime wave.”
Scam victims are not to blameBlame Blame or Blaming is the act of censuring, holding responsible, making negative statements about an individual or group that their action or actions are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible for doing something wrong, their action is blameworthy. By contrast, when someone is morally responsible for doing something right, we may say that his or her action is praiseworthy. Blame imparts responsibility for an action or act, as in that they made a choice to perform that act or action. for the scams themselves! They were expertly lured, groomed, manipulated, and controlled. But after the scam, all scam victims are responsible for the decisions they make. And sometimes those decisions come with additional consequences.
The only way SCARS knows to help scam victims to understand this is to share the hard truth and reality about it in articles like this one.
It Is Hard To Report
It can be difficult for scam victims to get up the courage to report these crimes. They are filled with shame, guilt, and anxiety.
However, we help victims both understand the need and how to make this process much easier. Plus, law enforcement worldwide is getting better at helping scam victims through the reporting process.
Learn how to make the reporting process easier:
- Start by better understanding what needs to be reported. Often scam victims are embarrassed about things that do not even matter to the police.
- Read our Scam Victims Checklist
- Optionally, use our scam organizer – available in our SCARS Book Shop
- Watch our webinar on how to talk with the police
- Next join a SCARS Support & Recovery Group so you have support throughout the process, before, during, and after!
- To sign up for a SCARS Support groupSupport Group 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. go to support.AgainstScams.org
- Before you go to the police:
- Ask a friend or family member to go with you, at least as far as the lobby to help support you before and afterward. Sometimes you only have to call.
- If you received ANY money from the criminals, consult a 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. defense attorney before making your statement – just as a precaution. You can also have your attorney accompany you to the police or have him prepare a written statement in advance
- When you talk to the police:
- Tell them everything about all transactions – be 100% truthful – try to omit nothing
- If you forgot to tell them something, follow up with an email (not a phone call) – you need it in writing!
- Never deliberately lie or withhold something because you are embarrassed – the police are like your doctor, no need to be embarrassed.
- Make sure you get a police report number as proof of the report, plus write down the office and their badge number that you spoke with
Remember: if you forgot to tell them something, made a mistake about the facts, or withheld something, follow up by email and tell them everything.
What Happens If You Lie To The Police?
The police may be forgiving as long as you are not trying to hide your involvement in a crime!
However, if you were a money muleMoney Mule A money mule sometimes called a "smurfer," is a person who transfers money acquired illegally (e.g., stolen) in person, through a courier service, or electronically, on behalf of others (usually criminals that they are knowingly or unknowingly affiliated). Typically, the mule is paid for services with a small part of the money transferred - but not always. Mules may or may not be aware that they are performing these actions. Money mules are often dupes recruited online for what they think is legitimate employment, not aware that the money they are transferring is the product of crime. The money is transferred from the mule's account to the scam operator, typically in another country. Similar techniques are used to transfer illegal merchandise. Mules can be prosecuted for numerous crimes. or aided the scammers in some other way and you lie about it, this could cause significant consequences for you!
U.S. Law 18 USC Section 1001 – Making False Statements
Federal law criminalizes certain statements and acts intended to interfere with the investigation of crimes and the administration of justice. This broad category of crimes includes perjury offenses, false statements, and obstruction of justice.
What are 18 USC 1001 False Statements?
False statements are criminalized under 18 U.S.C. § 1001. This law covers false statements made to law enforcement agencies like the FBIFBI FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes, including financial fraud. or to federal prosecutors in the Department of Justice, as well as false statements or acts taken to hide information from other agencies within the three branches of the federal government. The law covers oral statements, such as statements to agents interviewing you. It also covers written statements, such as lying on forms. A statement does not have to be under oath in order to qualify under this law.
Like perjury charges, the government must prove that the statement is materially false. The person making the statement must do so with the intent to deceive the government, rather than merely making a mistake.
One unique fact about false statements charges is that prosecutors sometimes rely on them when they have weak evidence or even a lack of evidence for another crime. So, for example, FBI agents show up and start asking you questions. You get nervous. You might be nervous simply because talking to a federal agent can be a scary experience. You may be nervous because you know about something that another person did, and you think this somehow implicates you. You may know that you did something wrong, or you might mistakenly believe that you committed a crime when you have not. You start making statements that are not true, hoping that the agent believes you and drops the whole thing. Now, all of a sudden, the prosecutor has a crime to charge you with.
As you can see, these charges have serious consequences.
Making a false statement is usually a felony. False statements charges carry up to five years in prison (at the federal level, and each state has its own statutes,) or, if the offense involves terrorism or certain types of sex offenses, up to 8 years. [Remember that scams do often fund terrorism, and can also involve other kinds of crimes such as sextortion.] It can also carry fines.
The statute of limitations in these cases is five years, from the time the statement was made or submitted. But, that is only in the case of making a false statement. Being an accessory to the crime may have longer limits.
Important: Before making a decision to speak with authorities or sign a form that subjects you to possible criminal liability, you should know your legal rights. Working with an experienced federal criminal defense attorney is the surest way to protect yourself from being charged with making false statements.
Summary
We are sorry if this scares you. We know that it is difficult, but reporting these crimes and telling the truth is important. It matters.
Far too many victims think these crimes are not important. Far too many Scam victims think the police do nothing anyway, so why should they bother? These views are completely wrong!
Hiding these crimes is exactly the wrong thing to do! Every report matters!
Every victim has a responsibility to their society, a duty! By reporting these crimes they take a huge burden off of their shoulders – they are not responsible for the next victim, and they will have successfully taken back control over their lives from the criminals! Reporting is a major step forward in recovering from these crimes.
Every scam victim needs to think about themself – they were a victim (in part) because past victims never reported these crimes. It is time to end this cascade of crime by doing the right thing!
SCARS is here to help you through this! Our 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. will help you understand and address the emotional issues. Our articles and guides will help you make it easier by preparing in advance so you essentially just give the officer a packet of information.
But no one can help you unless you do what needs to be done! Get help, learn what needs to be done and how to do it, and then begin the journey to recovery by reporting the crime!
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Do You Need Support?
Get It Now!
SCARS provides the leading Support & Recovery program for relationship scam victims – completely FREE!
Our managed peer supportPeer support Peer support occurs when people provide knowledge, experience, emotional, social or practical help to each other. It commonly refers to an initiative consisting of trained supporters and can take a number of forms such as peer mentoring, reflective listening (reflecting content and/or feelings), or in a support group. Peer support is also used to refer to initiatives where colleagues, members of self-help organizations and others meet, in person or online, to give each other connection and support on a reciprocal basis. Peer support is distinct from other forms of social support in that the source of support is a peer, a person who is similar in fundamental ways to the recipient of the support; their relationship is one of equality. A peer is in a position to offer support by virtue of relevant experience: he or she has "been there, done that" and can relate to others who are now in a similar situation. Trained peer support workers such as SCARS Volunteers receive special training and may be required to obtain Continuing Education Units, similar to clinical staff. Some other trained peer support workers may also be law-enforcement personnel and firefighters as well as emergency medical responders. groups allow victims to talk to other survivorsSurvivor 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 and recover in the most experienced environment possible, for as long as they need. Recovery takes as long as it takes – we put no limits on our support!
SCARS is the most trusted support & education provider in the world. Our team is certified in trauma-informedTrauma-Informed Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care needs to have a complete picture of a patient’s life situation — past and present — in order to provide effective care services with a healing orientation. Adopting trauma-informed practices can potentially improve patient engagement, treatment adherence, and health outcomes. care, grief 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., and so much more!
To apply to join our groups visit support.AgainstScams.org
We also offer separate support groups for family & friends too.
Become a
SCARS STAR™ Member
SCARS offers memberships in our STAR program, which includes many benefits for a very low annual membership fee!
SCARS STAR Membership benefits include:
- FREE Counseling or Therapy Benefit from our partner BetterHelp.com
- Exclusive members-only content & publications
- Discounts on SCARS Self-Help Books Save
- And more!
To learn more about the SCARS STAR Membership visit membership.AgainstScams.org
To become a SCARS STAR Member right now visit join.AgainstScams.org
To Learn More Also Look At Our Article Catalogs
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
Visit shop.AgainstScams.org
Each is based on our SCARS Team’s 32 plus years of experience.
SCARS Website Visitors get an Extra 10% Discount
Use Discount Code “romanacescamsnow” at Checkout
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 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. 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 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 scams 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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Your generous purchase allows us to maintain our scam avoidance, support, and recovery services. Please help SCARS and stand proud.
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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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