The Short Answer
If a company or "agency" calls offering to recover the money you lost to a timeshare exit, resale, or vacation scam, and asks for a fee to do it, be very careful. This is usually a second scam that deliberately targets people who were already burned once. ScamVerify™ tracks the vacation and timeshare scam category this belongs to: 20,823 complaints in our FTC and FCC data, with 4,103 in the last 90 days. Recovery scams are among the cruelest, because they use your genuine loss and your hope of getting the money back to pull a second payment out of you. A caller who wants money to recover your money is the pattern to distrust. You can hang up.
Real Help vs a Recovery Scam: Side by Side
Legitimate help getting your money back and a recovery scam differ on every point that matters. Hold one against the other.
| Feature | Legitimate help | A recovery scam |
|---|---|---|
| Who reaches out | You contact your bank, the FTC, or your state AG | They cold-call you, often knowing about your earlier loss |
| Cost | Free through your bank, the FTC, and law enforcement | An upfront fee, retainer, or "tax" before anything happens |
| Guarantees | No one can promise to recover your money | A confident guarantee that they will get it all back |
| Payment | You never pay a stranger to reclaim your funds | Wire, gift card, or crypto to a third party |
| Identity | Your real bank and named agencies | A vague "recovery agency," a fake law firm, or a "government" office |
Why Prior Victims Get Targeted Again
Being contacted about a loss you actually suffered feels like proof the caller is legitimate, so this deserves a straight answer. When you fall for a scam, your details often end up on a "sucker list," a record of people who paid once, which is bought and sold among scammers precisely because a proven victim is a valuable target. That is how a "recovery" caller seems to know about your earlier timeshare loss. It is not evidence they can help. It is evidence your information was resold. The knowledge that makes the call convincing is the very thing that should make you suspicious.
Got a call like this?
Tell Ava what happened. She checks it against millions of FTC and FCC complaints and real-time carrier data, then tells you exactly what you are dealing with.
What Legitimate Recovery Looks Like
Real avenues to get money back do exist, and none of them start with paying a stranger who called you. If you paid by card, your card issuer can attempt a dispute. If you wired money recently, your bank may be able to try a recall. You can report the fraud to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general, both free, and those reports feed real enforcement. A genuine lawyer or advocate is transparent, does not guarantee an outcome, and does not demand a large fee wired in advance. Recovery is never certain, but the honest paths are free or fee-transparent and never require an untraceable upfront payment.
How to Spot the Second Scam Coming
If you have already lost money to a timeshare scam, you can expect a recovery pitch to arrive, so it helps to recognize it in advance. It usually comes weeks or months after your loss, from a caller who seems to know exactly what happened to you and who presents themselves as an authority, a lawyer, a "recovery agency," a fraud investigator, even a government office. They open with sympathy, then pivot to a confident promise that they can get your money back, followed by a request for a fee, a "tax," or a retainer before anything happens. The single rule that protects you is simple and absolute: no legitimate party that can actually help you recover money will cold-call you and ask for a payment to do it. The moment money is required to get money back, hang up.
What to Do
- Do not pay a fee to recover money. Any upfront charge, "tax," or retainer to a caller is the second scam.
- Hang up. A real recovery does not begin with a cold call demanding payment.
- Use the free channels. Contact your bank, the FTC, and your state attorney general yourself.
- Let Ava check it. Paste the number or company name, and Ava checks it against the same complaint and carrier data we track, then tells you your next step.
- Report it. File at ReportFraud.ftc.gov so your report helps stop the operation.
For the full set of timeshare and travel scripts, see our guide to timeshare and travel scams. This scam preys on people already hit by the exit-company upfront fee pitch, the "we have a buyer" resale call, or a "free vacation" prize offer, so recognizing all of them protects you twice.
I Already Paid a Recovery Company. Now What?
You are not the problem here, and this is exactly the outcome the scam is built for, so do not carry the shame. Act quickly: if you paid by card, call your issuer using the number on the back of the card and dispute it; if you wired money, call your bank right away to try a recall. Save every document and message, then report the fraud to the FTC and your state attorney general. From here, be firm with yourself about one rule: no one who calls you offering to get your money back, for a fee, is real. If a third "recovery" layer calls, it is the same trap again, and it will keep coming as long as your details stay on the shared victim lists. Consider tightening your defenses: be extra skeptical of unknown callers, let unfamiliar numbers go to voicemail, and never confirm details about your earlier loss to someone who contacted you. Save every message and record from each attempt, because the pattern itself is useful evidence when you report it. Then tell Ava exactly what happened, and she will map out the specific next steps for your situation.
