How to Heal Emotionally After a Financial Scam

In the days after they are freed from the scam, victims quickly realize that their savings have been severely or completely depleted, while some will have accumulated substantial new debts. Victims may have borrowed from friends, trust funds, retirement funds, or inheritances. Personal loans may have been taken out and credit card limits reached, accumulating compound interest. Some have no means of repaying their debts other than selling their homes and/or declaring bankruptcy. Many older victims may no longer be working and have no means of repaying their debts or rebuilding any financial footing. Some victims may even end up homeless.

Without discretionary funds to support hobbies and social activities, scam victims may forgo their usual leisure activities, putting them at risk for losing friends, fitness, and community connections. Numerous studies have shown that social isolation and loneliness are highly correlated with mental illness.

Victims of scammers/investment scams can: Lose some/all of their savings and assets Leave a legacy of debt Unable to obtain loans or credit Need to return to work after retirement age Lose their home/obtain safe housing Become homeless Need to return to the workforce after retirement Loss of safe housing and potential homelessness Grief/anxiety/shame/depression/hopelessness Social isolation Poor mental health Poor physical health Increased morbidity Feelings of hopelessness, often suicidal ideation Victims often feel so ashamed of being a victim that they are reluctant to share their stories with others, causing them to internalize of one''''s own shame. This can add to the negative effects of shame, which can lead to depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Victims also feel a lack of trust, both in themselves and in the community at large. They do not trust their ability to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, which increases their sense of vulnerability and emotional violation.

Here are some of the most common emotional effects:

1. Grief

Loss can trigger intense grief. Grief can accompany the end of a relationship, loss of significant possessions, loss of friendships, health, and loss of a previous lifestyle. Grief can be felt both physically and mentally. Feelings of restlessness and fatigue at the same time, poor sleep quality, and difficulty with memory and concentration are common symptoms, as are dizziness, palpitations, tremors, headaches, nausea, and changes in appetite. If left unchecked, prolonged grief and sadness can devolve into despair or depression, the toll of which is now being exacted.

2. Anxiety
Anxiety, grief, causes problems with thinking, reasoning, and maintaining attention. Victims describe feelings of panic and fear, and heightened feelings of personal vulnerability. Anxiety can lead to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which has been linked to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. Physical symptoms such as tremors, gastrointestinal changes and sweating occur in acute anxiety, while chronic anxiety manifests itself in different ways, such as constant monitoring of the environment, shallow breathing and changes in diet.

Victims of pig-killing/investment fraud may have realistic fears that sexually explicit images shared with the fraudster may be used to further blackmail them, or spread on social media, and victims of financial fraud fear that the fraudster is "going around" to intimidate or coerce the victim in the future.

Note that while scam victims do not currently experience the hallmarks of PTSD, they do display many of the same symptoms experienced by PTSD survivors (e.g., anxiety, depression, and hypervigilance).

3. Shame
When a person experiences a significant loss, such as the loss of a spouse through death or divorce, the loss of wealth through the global financial crisis, or the loss of health through illness or accident, there is usually an outpouring of support from family, friends, health professionals, etc. This is no one’s fault. However, for victims of scams, the situation can be very different. They feel a deep sense of shame and are acutely aware of the negative stigma associated with being scammed. “How could she/I be so stupid?”

How to Heal Mentally as a Victim of a Pig Scam/Investment Scam

Accept the emotions. Look at that list again. Those are some ugly feelings, right? When things this happen, people tend to hold onto those emotions for a long time. That’s normal. And it won’t last forever either – or it shouldn’t. Many people find that once they stop trying to avoid feeling those things, stop trying to avoid feeling anything at all, and allow the emotions to happen…these emotions start to lose their power over you. They lose their intensity.

Find your best supportive family members and friends. As you continue reading this page, you’ll find below some of our suggestions for family and friends and how to be supportive. Seek out people to do these things with yourself. If you find yourself consistently feeling worse after spending time with someone but can''''t pinpoint why, trust your instincts and spend less time with that person. Pay attention to what happens to your thoughts and emotions after you talk to someone about it, and gravitate toward people who help you feel better, not worse.

Self-care. Self-care comes in many forms. I think of self-care as being divided into three types. One is doing something I can do in the moment to relieve a negative thought or emotion, taking a deep breath, consciously relaxing my shoulders, or stepping out of the situation for a moment. The second thing is engaging in regular activities that you enjoy. I think of this as building resilience to be able to cope with stress in life. The third thing is having good boundaries. This means knowing your limits for what you do and say, and letting others know how you want to be treated. You can read more about self-care in the handout on this website by clicking here: Self-Care Strategies.

Monitor and change your thoughts. Your thoughts do at least two things: they influence your emotional state; and they motivate a certain form of behavior. If you’re ruminating about what happened and focusing on negative self-talk, you’re going to feel bad. Shift your thoughts to what you can do, and forgive yourself, because it’s true that we all make mistakes sometimes.

Ask for help when you need it. You may tell yourself that you *should* be able to handle this, or that you’re getting more out of it than you expect. But the reality is, we all need help sometimes. Ask for help from a trusted family member or friend. If you can’t control your thoughts or emotions, talk to a counsellor.

Join our support groups. Talking to others who have been through similar experiences can help people cope with depression.

How to overcome the emotional scars of being cheated
If you’ve been cheated, you’ll need to find ways to take care of yourself – such as leaning on a support system of caring family and friends. You also need to not get stuck in negative or distorted thought patterns associated with deception or fraud.

There’s more work to do
Our research highlights that people are vulnerable to fraud in online spaces such as social media platforms and online marketplaces. While many of these online services take steps to prevent and remove fraud from their sites, fraud is still spreading. There is currently no formal regulation to stop online fraud, and we call for online services to be held legally accountable and take greater action to prevent fraud from appearing on their platforms.

GAFA, the Global Anti-Fraud Organization, is a coalition of legal professionals, volunteers and victims from around the world working together to fight fraud. In an era of rapid growth in online finance and blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, GAFA is a force focused on combating all kinds of fraudulent activity.