There are so many scammers, thieves and con artists out there. From the lowly identity thieves who sift through our garbage cans, to the big name fraudsters like Bernard Madoff. Odds are, we encounter at least one or two scam attempts throughout our lifetime. Getting scammed can be quite disastrous for some people. They could lose a large portion of their financial reserves. When it happens, it is important for consumers not to get panic. They should know that this has happened to millions of people before them. The losses could be substantial and it is important to ease our minds; by taking one step back. It is important for customers to take inventory of things they have lost. There should also be details of transactions that they need to examine. It is important to write down all the important things before taking legal actions.

After we are sure that we have been scammed and all evidences have been gathered, we should contact the authorities. There should be a relatively short span of time, before our realization and reports to the authority. This allows the case to be followed up immediately. It is also important to contact the Better Business Bureau and they could be quite helpful providing information about specific scam attempts. After we contact the local police, we should be able to provide copies of all available documentation. We should do this although the incident could be beyond their normal jurisdiction.

Next we should contact the local attorney general, especially in the same location with the scammer or questionable business. We should inform them that we have been scammed and how much money we have lost. Again, we should provide them with proper documentation related to the incident. We should contact them regularly to make sure that there are progresses. The attorney general may inform us that our case lies under the jurisdiction of specific agency or governmental organization, so we should contact them as well. The attorney should be aware of the size and scope of the scam attempts, so we would get real results.

Local attorneys should also be able to provide necessary helps. They could refer on things that we should do. If we suspect a huge scam, it is important open a class-action suit. Again, we should be in close contact with the police and attorneys to know about the progress of the case. We should make sure that each new step has been made. With proper procedure, we should be able to recover most, if not all of our financial losses.