Cyprus'sfinancial regulator is warning investors about fraudulent websites that targetpeople who've already lost money to investment scams, pretending to helprecover their funds while actually collecting personal information for furtherfraud.Scammers Target Fraud Victims With Fake Recovery SitesThe CyprusSecurities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) identifiedsix specific malicious sites: getyourmoneyback.ltd, getyoursback.org,theystole.net, chargebackinternational.com, chargebackme.com, andchargebackmoney.biz. The regulator suspects more similar sites exist thathaven't been discovered yet.“Thesemalicious websites are advertised online and on social media, mainly targetingpeople who have been victims of online fraud,” CySEC commented in the pressrelease. “They collect personal and financial information from investorsthrough websites, emails and/or phone calls.”Thescammers go as far as impersonatingCySEC officers, using email addresses that look similar to the regulator'sofficial domain. They promise to help recover losses from both regulated andunregulated investment firms, but the whole operation is designed to extractmore money and information from vulnerable victims.Recovery Frauds GrowingMore CommonThe warningfrom CySEC addresses what's known as recovery fraud -a situation where someone tries to scam people who've already been scammed oncebefore. CySEC has been issuing warnings about similar activities for years,just like regulators in various other parts of the world.A fewmonths ago, FinanceMagnates.com reported on a case investigated byEuropol where investment scammers earned $20 million by attacking the samevictims not twice, butthree times over.Fraudsters oftenimpersonate the UK's FCA, one of the most popular and active regulators inthe investment and financial environment. Meanwhile, at the end of 2023, Polishtraders lost millions of zloty in recovery scams involving fake law firmsthat hunted FX and crypto investors.Red Flags Investors ShouldKnowCySECemphasized several key points that should immediately raise suspicion. Theregulator nevermakes unsolicited phone calls or sends random correspondence toindividuals. It doesn't request personal, financial, or other sensitiveinformation through cold outreach.Anyonereceiving communication claiming to be from CySEC should verify itsauthenticity by emailing report.fraud@cysec.gov.cy before taking any action.Real CySEC emails always end with the official domain cysec.gov.cy, thoughfraudsters have figured out ways to disguise their addresses to looklegitimate.Theregulator has zero authority to collect fees from individual investors for anyreason, nor can it appoint others to do so on its behalf. CySEC doesn'tauthorize, verify, monitor, or participate in class actions, compensationschemes, or payments between individuals or organizations.Double VictimizationProblemThis typeof fraud represents a particularly cruel form of double victimization. Peoplewho've already lost money to investment scams often feel desperate to recovertheir funds, makingthem prime targets for these fake recovery services.Theemotional and financial vulnerability of previous fraud victims makes them morelikely to fall for promises of help, especially when the scammers impersonateofficial regulatory bodies. These operations exploit the trust people place ingovernment institutions designed to protect them.CySECregularly publishes warnings about unregulated entities and impersonationattempts on its official website. The regulator also maintains an investorguide specifically focused on spotting and avoiding various types of financialscams.Thewatchdog urged the public to stay alert for any unsolicited communicationclaiming CySEC affiliation and to never send money to anyone claiming torepresent the organization. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.