(WJAR) — Consumers lose more than a billion dollars every year to romance scams.
But money isn’t the only thing they lose.
That’s why a nonprofit called FightCybercrime created the Romance Scam Recovery Group to help victims get back on their feet.
“They thought this person was legitimate – they thought they were going to get married,” said Ally Armeson, executive director of FightCybercrime.
She continued, “People have to claim bankruptcy, live in homeless shelters – we’ve had people go through our program who live in homeless shelters.”
Armeson said the pain doesn’t end once the scammer disappears.
“This is absolutely a crime, they have been traumatized, it is a trauma,” she explained.
In 2021, FightCybercrime launched the Romance Scam Recovery Group.
“It’s a 10-week free program,” said Armeson. “It’s a peer support program, so you’re in a group with peers who have had a romance fraud happen to them or a crypto investment fraud happen to them and it is a safe space.”
On average, participants have lost more than $160,000 each.
But guiding victims towards financial help is just a piece of the Romance Scam Recovery Group’s mission.
“It can be devastating emotionally – and especially if your family, your friends, they don’t understand – they have no one to turn to,” Armeson explained.
A trauma-informed counselor works with victims to help them process their emotions and lean on peers who’ve experienced similar loss.
The group also helps victims button up their cyber security – since their much of their personal information has likely been stolen.
“And then again pointing them to legitimate recovery resources – legally, financially, tax wise – because it’s just a difficult road to understand what you can and can’t do, and there are even scammers out there who pretend to be recovery companies,” explained Armeson.
She said demand for the program in high – there’s a wait list to get in, but they are hoping to expand.
You can fill out an intake form FightCybercrime’s website.
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