Getting scammed once can make a person easier to target again.
Not because the victim somehow became gullible.
Because the first loss created a new, urgent problem: getting the money back.
The Federal Trade Commission warns that refund and recovery scammers specifically seek out people who have already been defrauded. Some buy or obtain lists of victims, then contact them pretending to be government agencies, consumer advocates, law firms, recovery specialists, or other helpers.
See the FTC’s refund and recovery scam guidance.
The second scam sells hope
The pitch usually contains something the victim desperately wants to hear.
Your money has been located. A special investigation recovered the funds. A lawyer can force the payment back. A government program is issuing refunds.
Then comes the condition.
The victim must first pay a retainer, processing fee, administrative charge, tax, or other supposed expense. Or the “helper” asks for bank details or identity information to process the recovery.
The FTC says legitimate government agencies and organizations do not require payment or financial account information in exchange for helping someone obtain a refund.
A guaranteed recovery should be especially suspicious. No legitimate investigator can honestly promise that stolen funds will be returned before examining the case.
Verify the helper independently
If someone contacts you unexpectedly about money you lost, do not use the contact details they provide to confirm their identity.
Look up the agency, law firm, company, or organization independently. Search its name with words such as “scam,” “complaint,” or “review.” If the caller claims to represent a government agency, find that agency’s official contact information yourself and ask whether the outreach was real.
Most importantly, do not send another payment simply because the person seems to know details about the original fraud.
Those details may be exactly how the second scammer found you.
The first scam creates the loss.
The recovery scam tries to monetize the hope of undoing it.