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Scams · The guide
How to tell a real recovery service from a scam
This industry has more scammers than professionals, and the scammers communicate better. That is why the best defence isn’t trusting your instincts: it is having a concrete checklist and applying it to everyone, every time. Apply it to me too.
The eight signals
- Did they message you first, privately? Nobody legitimate does. If a message arrives after you post your problem, it is a scam in practically one hundred per cent of cases.
- Do they ask for your phrase or password? Nobody legitimate needs it to tell you whether your case has a way out. Never, at any stage.
- Do they ask for money up front? The honest model is charging only if the recovery succeeds. Any «analysis fee», «security deposit» or «tool cost» is the classic scam.
- Do they guarantee the result? Nobody can. Whoever guarantees it is either lying or hasn’t looked at your case.
- Do they ever tell you no? A professional turns cases down. If yours is accepted with barely any questions, they aren’t assessing: they are selling.
- Do they explain why your case is or isn’t workable? They should be able to tell you what makes it possible and what complicates it, in your terms.
- Is there a contract? With written terms, an amount, what happens if it fails and what happens to your material afterwards.
- Do they ask you to send the device or file before anything else? Assessment doesn’t require it. If that is the first request, they aren’t assessing.
The signals that DON’T work
This is what almost nobody tells you: the things people look at are precisely the ones a scammer can manufacture in an afternoon.
- A nice website. Bought ready-made for forty euros.
- Testimonials on their own site. Written by them.
- Lots of followers. Bought.
- Five-star reviews. Also bought, and I cover it in fake reviews.
- A logo, a «verified» badge or a certificate. Images, nothing more.
- Replying fast and with great empathy. That is their job.
That is why all eight signals above are about behaviour, not appearance. What someone does can’t be bought ready-made; how they look can.
The definitive test, if you can only do one
Ask them in which cases nothing can be done, and ask them to explain why. A professional will give you a concrete answer: a completely lost phrase, a random password, a forgotten passphrase, a wiped device with no phrase. A scammer will dodge, change the subject, or tell you that «with their technology» almost anything is possible.
And apply the whole list to me. I don’t message you first privately, I don’t ask for your phrase or password, I charge nothing up front, I guarantee no results, I turn cases down and I tell you for free when you have no way out. If you ever get a message from me breaking any of that, it isn’t me: it is someone using my name. Always check on the official site.