Online Support Organizations
Advocating Against Romance Scammers – This group is very active in advocacy and awareness work, and there are several resources listed on their site. They founded World Romance Scam Prevention Day (October 3 of every year). They also have many resources listed on their website: https://www.advocatingforu.com
The Cybercrime Support Network has support groups you can join and a great deal of resources as well: https://fightcybercrime.org
AARP has support groups, articles, videos, and a hotline: https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/about-fraud-watch-network/
Give an Hour has launched a program for fraud victims that includes individual counseling by licensed professionals, and a peer led support group: https://www.giveanhour.org
Federal/United States Fraud Reporting and Information:
https://www.ic3.gov (this is the primary government website to report a scam)
https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety
FTC Fraud Report Website: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
My resources, also available in some pages of this website:
My video series for survivors on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZJJ66OXQ1L9syBTSfl1CQNLkZEH7HEYH
The webpage on my main site: https://www.lifepathscounseling.com/emotional-support-fraud-scams/
Purchase the book, The Emotional Impact of Being Scammed and How to Recover
Online video courses for advocates, mental health professionals, finance professionals, law enforcement, family and friends: https://lifepaths-school-7a8b.thinkific.com/
Collaboration and Advocacy
I’ve interviewed on a few episodes of Scammer Stories Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/255162 (she also has a Facebook page titled “Scammer Stories”)
Excellent source of information on different kinds of scams: https://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com (Mr. Henderson also has a Facebook group with this name)
I was able to participate in a webinar for the first annual World Romance Scam Prevention Day on October 3, when a video is posted I will add it here, and for now, here is the website to read about it: https://protectingheartsday.com.
The Better Business Bureau’s Institute for Marketplace Trust has recently launch a Scam Survival Toolkit. The Toolkit has an entire section to help with the mental health impact, which I helped to develop with them. You can find it here: https://scamsurvivaltoolkit.bbbmarketplacetrust.org
Books
I have found each of the books below to be helpful as I have researched and learned about scams and this is why I have included them here. You should also know, however, that if you click on one of these links, I may earn a small commission on purchases you make at that website.
Crimes of Persuasion, by Les Henderson
Martina Dove’s book, The Psychology of Fraud, Persuasion, and Scam Techniques
Propaganda, by Edward Bernays (although this was published quite a few years ago, this and other materials by Edward Bernays demonstrate a lot of persuasion techniques, and how advertising has been shaped by his ideas; there’s a related documentary on YouTube you may find interesting that includes quite a bit about Edward Bernays in the first hour, called “Century of the Self“)
The Hidden Persuaders, by Vance Packard
Combating Cult Mind Control, by Stephen Hassan (this one may surprise you, but I found good information in this and other books by Dr. Hassan about how to help someone escape the control of another person or group)
For healing, trauma, and overcoming negative self-talk, you could try one of these books:
How We Heal, by Alexandra Elle
Buddha’s Brain, by Rick Hanson
No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
There are many other books to help with trauma and healing, with shame, or with betrayal. If these don’t fit you, please reach out to me and we can talk about others that may be a better fit.