Here at WRS, we have the same question asked by many clients- “why do you not go after the actual scammers rather than the banks?”. This is a complex question, and one which is down to many different factors. This article explores the difficulties of tracking down the actual fraudsters, why this is not the route we go down, and our success by exploring alternative routes.
The difficulties in locating the actual scammers
Jurisdictional issues
The first issue which arises when holding the fraudsters accountable is the problem of jurisdiction, as most of the time, scammers are often based in other countries/continents. Scammers are often located in Fraud factories in east Asian countries, where law enforcement are not willing to cooperate to help to catch the individuals responsible.
Fake names and numbers
Scammers will also never use their real name and face when defrauding individuals of funds. Scammers often buy individuals’ photos and videos, allowing them to impersonate this individual and send the photos to victims of them going about their every day lives. This helps to build a more personal connection with the victim. This means the scammers true identity is never revealed to the victim throughout the fraud. Furthermore, scammers often use virtual phone numbers to communicate with victims, meaning the number is not registered to a phone/ individual. These factors make it extremely difficult to locate the individual behind the scam.
The use of cryptocurrency
The most important part as to why it is difficult to go after the scammers is identifying the trail of funds, and the end destination/ individual who receives the funds. Scammers very often have victims send funds via cryptocurrency, which is then sent through various wallets, obfuscating the funds and making them extremely difficult to track. The funds pass through coin mixers, which distribute the funds to hundreds of wallets meaning the cryptocurrency is impossible to track. The wallets also often belong to unregulated exchanges, meaning they cannot be held accountable for the stolen funds.
Why this is not a route we look to take
As mentioned with the above factors, the concept of actually tracking down and locating the scammers is extremely difficult. Even if this was successful, the issue of prosecuting the scammers in different jurisdictions becomes very difficult. Furthermore, the whole process would be extremely expensive and time consuming, and not something that could be offered on a no win no fee basis.
The route which we take
Instead of attempting to locate the scammers, we make an argument to your bank that they have failed in their duty of care to protect you when making the fraudulent payments, citing the relevant laws and regulations which the banks have failed to adhere to.
Our process for recovering client’s funds has a high success rate, and can be done on a no win no fee basis against the banks. This means clients do not have to pay us anything, unless we are successful in recovering funds and the money is back in your bank account. With this process, we have been able to recover over £50million for clients over the past few years alone.
If you have fallen victim to a scam in the last 6 years and have lost £10,000.00 or more, fill in an enquiry form on our website to see if we can assist you in recovering the funds.