How to avoid getting scammed by a fake recovery service?
Van Orton’s guide to identifying a fake recovery service
4 in 5 asset recovery services you come across online are fraudulent. Beware of fake recovery services who pretend to be lawyers or hackers. They will guarantee a successful recovery without any payment and then demand hidden fees in cryptocurrency later on using various excuses. Please refrain from exposing your case data to such individuals to preserve your case's privacy and recovery odds.
We understand that you may be in touch with several service providers at the same time to find the best option for you. If any of the following apply to the service contacting you, they are a scam:
Unrealistic recovery timelines: Due to the complex nature of cross-border asset recovery, recovering your assets within the same day or the week is virtually impossible and is a common lie used by fake recovery services to instill a sense of urgency.
A price that's too good to be true: If the price quoted for their services is too good to be true especially considering your loss amount, complexity of your case, and the age of the scam, it's highly likely a fraudulent service.
Requiring payment in cryptocurrency or wire transfers to foreign countries: No legitimate asset recovery service will accept payment in cryptocurrency, ask the client to purchase or exchange USD to cryptocurrency, or instruct to make wire transfers to bank accounts based in foreign countries.
Guaranteeing a recovery: This is the best way to identify a fake recovery service — guaranteeing a recovery of your stolen assets is unethical and borderline illegal. The FBI has, in the past, taken action against companies promising a guaranteed recovery.
Discussing hacking: "Asset recovery" through hacking is one of the most common recovery scams and we battle these fraudsters daily. It is technically illegal to solicit such services even if they are from scammers. A complication from this could affect or significantly reduce potential law enforcement interest in your case. Banks and exchanges have access to the best digital security systems and have hundreds of people monitoring their services 24/7. A theoretical method to "hack" these financial institutions would be to penetrate their computer networks or databases using vulnerabilities that take months or years to develop. Even then, funds are kept within different isolated systems and you can't transfer those without being tracked. While financial institutions getting hacked and losing money is a real concept, these are often committed by nation-state hackers from the North Korean and Iranian governments who can spend years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to infiltrate financial institutions.
No case assessment process: To understand the potential costs and preliminary recovery odds of a case, it's important and necessary to assess and verify the losses upfront. If a service quotes you a price and/or confirms they "recovered" your funds in a suspiciously short timeline without significant case assessment, they are a recovery scam.
Hiring without a contract or a badly made one: If your service provider agrees to work on your case without a contract or with a contract that looks off, it's a scam. Asset recovery is a sensitive process, and both the client and the service provider require significant legal protection and a detailed legal agreement to outline their responsibilities and the scope of work.
Lack of support for or an aversion to payment plans: If your service provider doesn't offer payment plans in general or doesn't understand the concept, they are highly likely fraudsters or not a fit for your needs. Van Orton Recovery offers a wide range of flexible payment plans, subject to your creditworthiness and the invoice amount.
Poor grammar or unnatural English: While America is a diverse country, the asset recovery industry requires constant communication and coordination with hundreds of third parties in fluent English, including but not limited to, banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and law enforcement agencies (in the U.S. and abroad). All domestic and international third parties relevant to pursuing cross-border asset recovery expect an asset recovery service representing you to communicate information clearly.
Lack of case studies and/or technical evidence of past asset recoveries: All established service providers would have case studies, client testimonials, and independently verifiable technical evidence showing that successful recoveries and asset freezes have been made as a result of their services and investigations.
Van Orton offers the holistic approach you need for crypto scam investigations. Beyond analyzing cryptocurrency transactions, we leverage open-source intelligence and blockchain cash-out patterns to uncover how criminals launder stolen funds. We then use this information to identify real-world assets and the identities of scammers, increasing your odds of recovery. If you’d like to learn more, feel free to get in touch with our team.
