These are the six fraud patterns we encounter most across Australia and Southeast Asia. Each has its own anatomy — and its own window for recovery. Find the closest match below, then talk to a specialist.
These begin on dating apps or social platforms. A persona invests weeks or months building a relationship before the first financial request appears — a sudden medical bill, a frozen account abroad, a customs fee for a "gift" being shipped. The emotional foundation makes each request feel reasonable, and the asks scale as the relationship deepens.
Watch for
Refuses to video call or always cancels at the last moment
Storylines involving overseas work, military deployment or remote installations
First financial request framed as an urgent emergency
Pressure to keep the relationship secret from family and friends
Promises to repay or be together once "one final obstacle" is resolved
Most investment fraud follows a familiar arc: a small initial deposit, a dashboard that shows impressive growth, a successful test withdrawal that builds trust, then escalating pressure to deposit more — often through "limited-time" opportunities. When you try to withdraw the larger amount, the platform suddenly demands tax payments, verification fees, or imposes "frozen account" status.
Watch for
"Account managers" or "advisors" who contacted you, not the other way around
Platforms not registered with your local financial regulator
Promised returns that exceed any legitimate market average
Pressure to deposit more before "the window closes"
Suddenly required fees to access your own withdrawal
Pay-to-work fraud presents as flexible online employment — completing simple tasks, reviewing products, or "click-to-earn" schemes. Early tasks pay small commissions that build trust. Then the platform requires you to fund larger "task bundles" or pay "completion fees" to unlock earnings. Once these costs scale up, withdrawals stop processing entirely.
Watch for
Job offers arriving via WhatsApp or Telegram from unknown numbers
Requirements to "fund tasks" or pay platform fees out of pocket
A coach or trainer pressuring you to deposit more for "higher-tier" work
Earnings shown on a dashboard but won't transfer to your bank
Cryptocurrency fraud exploits the irreversibility of on-chain transactions. Once funds leave your wallet, they're often split across multiple addresses, run through privacy mixers, or converted into assets that disappear into exchanges in low-cooperation jurisdictions. Recovery is possible — but it requires moving fast, before the laundering trail outpaces investigation.
Watch for
A "broker" or "recovery agent" contacting you about crypto you didn't buy
Requests to send crypto to a wallet, then send "tax" or "fee" before withdrawing
Trading platforms that accept crypto deposits but won't allow crypto withdrawals
Wallet drains after providing a seed phrase or signing an unknown transaction
High-return DeFi platforms that bypass standard verification
Once a person has been defrauded, their contact details often circulate through scam-victim lists. Recovery-fee fraud exploits this — a "recovery firm" or "cybercrime investigator" approaches with promises to retrieve lost funds for an upfront fee. They use forged credentials, manufactured urgency and fabricated "breakthroughs" to extract additional payments. No funds are ever actually recovered.
Watch for
Unsolicited contact from someone claiming they can recover your losses
Demands for upfront payment to "unlock" or "release" your funds
Credentials that don't appear on any official registry or licence body
Pressure to act within hours or "lose the chance forever"
Use of fake legal documents, court orders or official-looking letterheads
Many modern frauds don't fit cleanly into one category. Bank or government impersonation, multi-stage phishing campaigns, business email compromise, and hybrid schemes that pivot from one tactic to another are increasingly common. If your situation doesn't match the five categories above, it doesn't mean it isn't recoverable — it usually means the playbook combined several patterns.
Watch for
Communications claiming to be from a bank, tax office or border authority
Emails directing you to portals that look familiar but feel slightly off
Phone calls with prerecorded messages demanding urgent action
Invoice or payment redirections from someone impersonating a known supplier
Compromised accounts being used to make requests to your contacts
If it doesn't fit one box, it usually fits several.
Modern fraud is rarely textbook — most cases combine elements of two or three patterns above. Send us the basics and we'll help you map what happened, before any work begins.
