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recovery and reassurance

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Re: recovery and reassurance

Unread postby SlapHappy » Tue Mar 28, 2017 12:36 am

After all the trash-clearing in this topic done today, it's about time for another reminder here, as you webcam blackmailed victims do not even bother to read the first post in this topic before plastering it with panic .

Moderator note: Read this carefully before you post in this topic!

I have had to split many posts off of this topic, as they were "off-topic." All were regarding webcam blackmail questions that are answered in other topics, mainly http://blackmailscams.com. None of them had anything to do with the intention of this topic, which is "How did you recover from the scam?" Your insights about how to deal with the aftermath, mostly in your own head, or attitudes, or changing perspectives, behaviors, changes in your life, etc.
Read a bit of this or all of it before posting, and you will get the idea of what belongs here.

The stuff that gets posted here that does not belong end up in The Dump, and may not even be answered as the answers are in other topics that the poster already read once or is too lazy to read or is looking for a different answer when there is none.:
The Dump - "Whatif?" Questions Have Answers Here
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=35899


I've just been blackmailed, "Where do I start again?" http://blackmailscams.com. You can click this link or click one of the HUGE BUTTONS on every page of this forum on the left side at the top and bottom of each page, marked "WEBCAM BLACKMAIL HELP."

Now that that is out of the way, are you curious what the staff here is up to besides posting thousands of blackmail scam/sextortion forms a year? Click here to find out:

ScamSurvivors 5th anniversary podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LdLGowzmoI
If anyone asks you for money on the Internet they are always a scammer, 100% of the time.
Blackmail Scammed? Go here: https://www.scamsurvivors.com/blackmail/#/
FAQ viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19
Victim of a scam? Go here: https://scamsurvivors.com/forum/viewtop ... =3&t=26504
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Re: recovery and reassurance

Unread postby SlapHappy » Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:27 pm

The staff get thanks daily from people that we have helped. Many of them ask how they can help in some way. "By giving back; by helping others from what you have learned, by passing the word about scams, and by donating to our website so that we can continue to help many more people in the same situation that you found yourself in." The reply is always, "Ok, I'll do that."

Take a guess what we see happen after that conversation?
The answer is very little giving back from what I can see on this forum lately.
We have no idea if the people who have come and gone from here actually helped someone in their own worlds or passed the word about scams to help others.
I hope and pray that most have done so.
We do know how many members donated to the website over the past 5 years. 98 members out of 10,773 [0.0091.] That is not even 1% of members. If you add in the 16,000 that filled blackmail forms and did not register to the site, it is 0.3%. That is pretty disappointing, if you ask me. Take out the staff and close anti-scam friends of the staff and the number is barely over 80. Well over half or more of these supporters are romance or 419 victims, some who have lost over tens of thousands of dollars.

All of you that have been scammed have dealt with the aftermath of it in your own lives. Those of you that have gotten over the shock, panic, self-doubt, grief, anger, and everything else that have occurred have the ability to help others get through the same experience that you have. Many of you still come back to this site to read topics here. You have been given knowledge, direction, perception, thoughts, words and the path to faith for the future by the other members who have taken the time to give back their own insights and help in their own way, using their own words posted on the forum to help in your own recovery.

Did you know that hundreds of people a day read this topic, and the vast majority are seeking some kind of answers to help them get through their own scam or in order to help others in their lives get over getting scammed?
You have the ability to touch and help all of them right here, right now.
How about taking a few minutes and give a few words of your own? I pray that some of you will reach down and pick someone else up who is suffering.
If anyone asks you for money on the Internet they are always a scammer, 100% of the time.
Blackmail Scammed? Go here: https://www.scamsurvivors.com/blackmail/#/
FAQ viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19
Victim of a scam? Go here: https://scamsurvivors.com/forum/viewtop ... =3&t=26504
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Re: recovery and reassurance

Unread postby SlapHappy » Sun Apr 23, 2017 6:52 pm

Being scammed is a mental and emotional trauma. To some victims, it is very easy for them to cope and move on from the experience. For others, the trauma goes far deeper and they may not be able to get "unstuck" from the scam.

I've found a few articles online that explain how trauma works on you, and how to recover from it. It might be helpful to read and try some or all of the strategies to help yourself heal and move on.

PTSD and Trauma
https://www.helpguide.org/home-pages/ptsd-trauma.htm

Coping after a traumatic event
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/p ... event.aspx

Common Responses to Trauma
& Coping Strategies
http://www.trauma-pages.com/s/t-facts.php

Dealing with the Effects of Trauma – A Self Help Guide*
https://www.unh.edu/counseling-center/d ... ts-trauma-–-self-help-guide

Coping with a Traumatic Event
https://www.cdc.gov/masstrauma/factshee ... coping.pdf

Want to read more? Google search "coping with traumatic events" & "coping with emotional trauma"
If anyone asks you for money on the Internet they are always a scammer, 100% of the time.
Blackmail Scammed? Go here: https://www.scamsurvivors.com/blackmail/#/
FAQ viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19
Victim of a scam? Go here: https://scamsurvivors.com/forum/viewtop ... =3&t=26504
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Re: recovery and reassurance

Unread postby SlapHappy » Fri May 12, 2017 1:37 pm

I came across a couple articles that you might want to read and consider, especially for those of you that are addicted to social media, or find yourself spending way too much time using social apps or staring into your smart phone every spare moment.

The time has come to remove Facebook from your life
http://mashable.com/2017/05/11/delete-facebook/
Quite a few survivors have done just this after being scammed, and have talked about it in this recovery topic.
Something you may want to seriously consider. None of the staff here have real Facebook accounts.

Put your smartphone away, you're missing the entire history of you,
http://mashable.com/2017/05/10/distract ... addiction/
Stick you head into your smartphone too much, and you miss out on most of real life in the physical world and you end up living life isolated inside your own head.
Check out Black Mirror series and its "The Entire History of You" 48 minute episode. This scifi story takes the use of technology and the social madness it causes to the extreme.
If anyone asks you for money on the Internet they are always a scammer, 100% of the time.
Blackmail Scammed? Go here: https://www.scamsurvivors.com/blackmail/#/
FAQ viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19
Victim of a scam? Go here: https://scamsurvivors.com/forum/viewtop ... =3&t=26504
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SlapHappy
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Re: Closure. When will this all end? NEW! Coping Strategies!

Unread postby Lymphocyte » Thu Jul 06, 2017 1:54 pm

Bigfoot wrote:Hey people!

Thought I'd share my story and the closure that came along with it for support.

Ive been scammed about 1.5 months ago.
had no money, so there wasnt anything to give. was an emotional wreck during the day it happened but followed all the steps that this websites give to get things sorted as soon as possible and it worked great.
Blocked all forms of contact as soon as possible.

it took me about a week or so to get used to the idea of the scammer not having any form of control over me, worried that he/ she would try again in hopes of me having money then.
After a week, not hearing of the scammer through other profiles on facebook, and checking with one of the international female friends of mine who the scammer had shown on cam, threatening to send a link to a video she recorded of me to, i realized that that was all it was. empty threats.

TIme is money for these people.
this is both good and bad.

Good for you, because they arent gonna waste time on people that dont seem to cooperate in any way while they can be busy trying to get other people to do what you didnt, but its bad because as stated, they will be spending their time on other potential victims.

be selfish for once when this happens though, as it will help you get closure faster.
forget about it when you can, get a lot of distraction and you will be fine, like me :D

I got back here to check on my report of a scammer, to find out that at least one person actually found it to be helpful and prevent himself to get scammed by this person.
Knowing this makes me really happy!
keep up the good work, scamsurvivors!



Beautiful
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Re: Victim of the "Emma Anderson" types

Unread postby Lymphocyte » Thu Jul 06, 2017 2:00 pm

daz3162010 wrote:Hi Guys

I have shared my story as it was happening, and I am hoping that this will give everybody a little more faith and put their minds at ease.

Everyhting described in solidsnake's post is how most of us feel when this happens. I personally went through the Skype route, before getting a message saying something along the following lines:

"Before you think of blocking me or reporting me don't. I have recorded what you have been doing and have uploaded it to (LINK). I have also found all of your contacts from your email address, as well as your CV and your girlfriends CV (LINKS). I will send these to all of your contacts on here and everyone you know. I also have these addresses. "

Your heart jumps into your mouth when you read something like that, and you wonder how you could ever have been so stupid as to make this mistake. You blame yourself, you can't breathe, and you know you only have 10 minutes to reply. Or do you?

My scammer told me they wanted £200 in 10 mins. I said I had no money, and they said to get it from somewhere, like ask my girlfriend. I again told them I had no money, and they then asked for £50. They taunted me, saying "Right, I'm gonna do it now then... Hahaha I haven't. I want the money" etc

Anyway, I deleted my Skype account and the hotmail account that I had used to contact them (they said they were going to send me an email, before we jumped into the blackmailing). I deleted everything without thinking, then I found this site. I think most people would, as you just want to run and hide, and you don't think rationally - you just think about disappearing as quickly as you can. I changed my status on Facebook to warn people my email account had been hacked, and that they should not open any messages from that address. The scammer saw this and said I had "fucked up big time - you don't know what we are capable of..."

Anyway, the next day I found an email in my junk folder of another emal address i use. It said I would have noticed they haven't posted the video yet, but they were going to right now. Unless I paid them in 24 hours - wtf? First I have 10 mins, then as long as I need, then it's going to be posted, then I have 24 hours? The suject of the email was "6 hours left..." I blocked the sender and reported them on this site. I also reported abuse on the video, so it was removed immediately. I then emailed Pastebin and informed them that somebody had stolen my details and posted them on their site. Within an hour or so the links no longer worked. I wouldn't have had those links if they hadn't resent them to me, so that was quite helpful!

This was yesterday, and to my knowledge nobody I know has received anything.

The points I am trying to make are as follows:

They will keep changing the amount of time you have to pay, because if there is even a little hope that you will still pay them, they will keep following up, and they can make a bit.

Follow the advice from the amazing guys here. Block the scammer, and post their details on this site. They don't want the publicity. Also, if they cannot contact you they cannot threaten you.

I didn't realise, as it said that the email had originated in Canada, that this was probably Morocco.

No matter what threats they make, do not engage. Block and drop. They will show you names of people you know, and try to blackmail you with the people they think you are closest to, by looking you up on Facebook and seeing your relationship status etc

Try to stay calm. Yes they will tell you they can ruin your life, and yes with the tools they say they have, they probably could. But if they carry out the threats, then they can't threaten you with them - so what would be the point?

As I say, the last contact I had was yesterday morning, and since I blocked the email address I have heard nothing. My 24 hours was up this morning, and again, to my knowledge, nobody has received anything, my details have been deleted off the webistes they were posted on, and the video was removed by the website it was posted on.

Most importantly, ask questions of people in here - they are great guys, and we have all experienced this or something similar. Nobody judges, they are all trying to help you

Thanks Guys, and I hope this helps some people



Thanks for the support, I really appreciate it!
Lymphocyte
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Re: recovery and reassurance

Unread postby Fish4Cure » Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:12 pm

Thank you less than a week into this
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Re: recovery and reassurance

Unread postby scamvictim77 » Sat Aug 12, 2017 9:11 pm

I didn't realize that post scam period can be so difficult but reading people's stories on post scam page, gave me a lot of strength. As someone mentioned: you continue to make different scenarios in your head and planning your way out. Your constant fear that, there is something out there against you in the hands of evil - consumes a lot of your energy. And, you have no other choice but to sit tight. I wish: many people who wrote their stories here, come back in few months or a year and write more.

- Thank you for this.
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Re: recovery and reassurance

Unread postby SlapHappy » Sun Aug 13, 2017 7:28 am

We wish more would let us know how they are doing down the road after the scam, too. But that is a difficult thing for most people to do after they have recovered from the scam. Most everyone just go back to deal with real life as it is after the scam and put it behind them.

Strength is needed to show old wounds to other survivors and to relate their own difficulties to others who may not be as far along in moving on. To some it seems like a step backwards coming back to ScamSurvivors and they just do not want to revisit and possibly relive any of the old pain and fear. Some have, and they have posted here in this topic, and in "Tell your story here." section viewforum.php?f=7 and also are interviewed by the staff in our podcasts. We have a few members who have talked to the media many months or years later, but doing that takes a long, long time in recovery first usually and the member has to be stable in themselves again in order to do that from an outside perspective with some detachment using their "new selves."

You may also want to read our free PDF or buy the book "The Scam Survivor's Handbook," written by Wayne using interviews of people that he has helped.
"The Scam Survivors' Handbook"
http://scamsurvivors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=31
If anyone asks you for money on the Internet they are always a scammer, 100% of the time.
Blackmail Scammed? Go here: https://www.scamsurvivors.com/blackmail/#/
FAQ viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19
Victim of a scam? Go here: https://scamsurvivors.com/forum/viewtop ... =3&t=26504
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Re: recovery and reassurance

Unread postby Imadeamistake » Sun Aug 20, 2017 12:00 am

almost 2 and a half years since i was scammed and still standing strong. Believe the wise words spoken the authors of this site they know what they are on about. Follow their advice and you cannot go wrong.
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