Specialisms
A return appeared on the screen – it is not being paid out.
Investment fraud lives on the surface. A portal shows trading gains, a participation offer promises fixed returns without risk, an advisor gets in touch reliably. The break becomes visible only at the first larger withdrawal, when taxes, fees or an unlock are suddenly demanded – and it is precisely at this point that it is decided whether the loss can still be limited.
Circumstances
Clarify the context
Evidence
Preserve documents
Deadlines
Explain any urgency
Approach
Discuss the next steps
Immediate steps
What to do now
The following steps concern the securing of your position, not the legal assessment. They remain advisable even if you still hope that the announced withdrawal will after all take place.
Make no further payment
Pay no tax, no fee, no commission and no activation – regardless of how plausible the explanation sounds and how high the displayed balance is. Further demands before a withdrawal are the standard course of this pattern and only enlarge the loss.
Involve the bank and the payment-service provider immediately
Report the payments to your institution, expressly ask for a recall of transfers that have not yet been finally executed and, for card payments, for a chargeback. Have the report confirmed with date and time. The relevant time limits can be short and must be clarified at once.
End third-party access to your devices
If remote-maintenance software was installed, remove it, disconnect the device from the network and have it examined. Then, from another device, reset the credentials of your online banking and your email accounts, because these may have been read during the sessions.
Secure the interface and the communications before access ends
Take captures of the displayed balance, the trading history and the withdrawal requests and export all chat histories including telephone numbers, profile names and voice messages. Access is frequently blocked within a few hours after the first objection.
Compile the complete payment history
List every payment with date, amount, recipient name, IBAN or wallet address, payment reference and transaction reference. This schedule is the foundation of any payment tracing and is expected in this form by banks, authorities and courts.
File a complaint and review supervisory channels
A criminal complaint is free of charge and produces a file number. In addition, a report to the financial supervisor responsible for the alleged provider may come into consideration; it publishes warnings and brings together information from other persons affected.
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The pattern behind the return promises
The approach usually comes through advertising on social networks, through a forwarded post or through an unsolicited call. What follows is personal support via messenger services, a small first deposit and access to a trading interface that displays market gains. That display is the actual core of the pattern: the positions shown do not exist, and the amounts paid in are not invested but forwarded through accounts in several states.
Alongside that stands the classic variant with a contractual apparatus: subordinated loans, direct participations in real estate, commodities or tangible assets, coupled with a fixed interest rate and the statement that the capital is secured. Distributions to early investors in such models come from the contributions of later investors. As long as new money comes in, the construction works and generates genuine recommendations in the circle of acquaintances – which is what makes it particularly effective.
The last phase begins with the wish to withdraw. Source taxes, sales commissions, exchange fees or a verification that supposedly cannot be offset against the existing balance are then demanded. Each of these demands is presented as the last. Frequently a further contact follows later: an alleged recovery office, an authority or a law firm that, against an advance payment, offers to recover the funds and thereby harms the same circle of people a second time.
Recognising the signs
How an untrustworthy offer shows itself
Individual points also occur with reputable providers. It becomes critical when several coincide – in particular the combination of a fixed return promise, personal support via messenger and payments to changing recipients.
- The return is firmly promised and lies well above what is achievable on the market for comparable investments.
- Support runs through a personal “adviser” via messenger rather than through the documented communication of a supervised institution.
- To set up access you are to install remote-maintenance software so that someone can help you with the setup.
- A first, small withdrawal request is fulfilled promptly; a larger one is not.
- Before withdrawal, taxes, fees or an “activation” are demanded that cannot be offset against the alleged balance.
- Deposits go to changing accounts in various countries or to accounts whose holder is not the provider itself.
- Particulars of seat, supervision and registration are missing or cannot be confirmed in the publicly accessible registers.
Possible measures
Possible measures
What is sensible depends on the payment channel, on the timing and on whether an identifiable addressee exists on the other side. We tell you openly when a step does not justify the effort.
Working through the payment flow
We match your payments to the recipients and work out which institutions and service providers were involved. Only from that does it follow where information and protective measures can attach at all.
Review claims against the institutions involved
Depending on the facts, it may need to be examined whether an institution or payment-service provider involved has breached duties of its own. A right to information against the payment-service provider may also come into consideration, in order to trace the further path of the funds.
Identifying the recipient side
Accounts, companies and domains can frequently be traced further back than it first appears – through register enquiries, through the payment chain and through proceedings in other states. Whether an identifiable addressee emerges from that is open and cannot be said in advance.
Protective measures where assets are reachable
If realisable assets are located, provisional protective measures may come into consideration in the state concerned. Such applications are urgent and are made by practitioners admitted locally, whose involvement we coordinate.
Criminal complaint and joining with further persons affected
The same structures regularly harm many people. A criminal complaint that presents the payment trail in a traceable way can connect to proceedings already under way. Whether that leads to investigative success is decided solely by the authorities.
Protection against a second attack
Anyone who has already been affected is deliberately contacted again. We review offers from purported recovery services, authorities or law firms before you respond, and we generally advise against paying in advance for a promised recovery result.
Prospects
How realistic a recovery is
The prospects depend on where the payments went and who holds the funds today. Payments to an account within the European payment area that is still active present a different starting position from a chain of crypto transfers through trading venues without reliable customer due diligence. We cannot promise an outcome in any of these situations, and a displayed balance on a trading interface is not an asset that can be claimed.
Time works in two directions. Recall and chargeback procedures, as well as securing any remaining balances, are designed for the short term; these routes often close within days. Follow-up with the institutions involved, identification of the recipient side and participation in ongoing investigations remain possible for longer, but they rarely lead quickly to an incoming payment.
What we can provide is a sober assessment: which routes remain open in the specific case, what effort they involve, and where action would not be economically worthwhile. You receive this assessment before costs arise. The overarching account of evidence preservation, payment tracing and procedural routes can be found in the Fraud & Scam practice area.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions on investment fraud
The answers describe typical situations. Whether and how they apply to your case depends on the offer, the payment route and the timeline.
Related specialisms
Patterns that often overlap
Fraud rarely follows just one pattern. If your case only partly matches, related specialisms may help you understand the connections.
Crypto fraud
Wallet access, exit scams and trading platforms that do not pay out – tracing, information requests and the limits of enforcement.
Find out moreFake websites
Counterfeit brand and government sites – evidence preservation, reports to registrars and protection of your own brand.
Find out moreTelephone fraud
Shock calls, fake officials and alleged technical support – immediate measures and possible steps afterwards.
Find out more
Related information
Related information
- Fraud and scamsWhen fraud is suspected, payment routes, correspondence and timing are important starting points.
- Recognising signs of fraudUrgency, secrecy and extra payments before a promised withdrawal are recurring warning signs. A single feature does not replace examination of the facts.
- Fraud patterns at a glanceForged invoices, fabricated relationships and manipulated investment platforms follow different patterns. Explore how they work and possible next steps.
- Contact usDescribe your matter in a few sentences. Include only what is needed for the initial contact. Documents can be requested later through a suitable channel.
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An enquiry does not establish a client relationship or responsibility for monitoring deadlines. If a deadline is approaching, do not rely on this form alone.
- General information. The legal assessment depends on the circumstances of each case.