The Belgian regulator has warned the public about seven companies engaging in “recovery room fraud.” It is a form of fraudulent activity where scammers target vulnerable individuals by promising to help recover lost funds, but instead, they take advantage once more.

“Recovery Room Scam”

According to the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), these companies target people who have already been victims of investment fraud by offering them assistance in recovering their losses.

The regulator identified several companies suspected of operating recovery room scams, including Akin (www.akin.com.co), Bitcity (https://bitcity.cc/ and https://bitcity.ac/), Concord Services (http://concord-services.org/), Ledgible (https://ledgible.io/), Recovery AI (https://recovery-ai.org/), Trade Control (www.tradecontrol.org), and World Blockchain Organization (https://uwnbo.info/; euwbo.com).

In a “recovery room scam,” fraudsters demand upfront fees for so-called administrative or legal costs and, in some cases, trick victims into granting remote access to their computers, further endangering their finances.

“Victims of investment fraud are often targeted twice by the same fraudsters: first the latter perpetrate investment fraud, and thereafter, recovery room fraud,” the FSMA explained. “The persons behind the investment fraud may also sell their victims’ contact information on to other fraudsters. Anyone who has ever been a victim of investment fraud needs to be aware that fraudsters may target their victims again or sell their personal data on to others.”

The FSMA noted that victims are often approached via unsolicited phone calls or emails. Fraudsters sometimes pose as law firms, accountants, or even official financial authorities and use the names of legitimate companies or institutions.

Digital Wallets

The scam follows a familiar pattern: fraudsters request payment for administrative tasks or tax fees, which are purely fictitious. In other instances, they pose as good Samaritans offering free services, only to install spyware via remote desktop applications like Anydesk, granting them access to the victim's bank accounts.

Fraudsters may also convince victims to create wallets on cryptocurrency platforms, which they then exploit to steal funds. Regardless of the method, the outcome is the same—victims lose even more money, often with no way to recover it.

Worryingly, victims of investment fraud are often targeted twice. First, fraudsters carry out the initial scam; then, they return with the pretense of offering recovery services. The FSMA warns that information about victims of previous scams can be sold to other fraudsters, making these individuals even more vulnerable.