Apr 6, 2026
Two years ago, cybercriminals stole more than $1 million from an 81-year-old man in a romance scam. He handed over control of his finances to his son, Nick, after being scammed, so that he could get some extra protection from future fraud.
Then came a message that sounded too good to be true: Someone claiming to work with the U.S. Treasury’s financial crimes division said authorities might be able to recover the stolen money.
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“There was maybe 10 percent of me that thought it could be real,” Nick Jonas, the man’s son, told The New York Times (1).
The supposed lawyer said his name was Dennis John Solis and claimed to work for a firm called Edward International Legal Corporation. During a video call over the app Signal, he appeared convincing, sitting at a desk with framed certificates on the wall and an American flag behind him.
But the illusion fell apart as soon as Jonas asked for proof of credentials.
“The credentials included an A.I.-generated image of a man meant to look like the guy on the video call,” Mr. Jonas said, “and that’s when I immediately knew it was a scam.”
The Joneses were almost victims of a recovery scam.
Cruel second wave of scams
Recovery scams, or refund scams, target people who have already lost money in previous scams.
Instead of pretending to be investors or romantic partners, fraudsters pose as lawyers, government officials or investigators who help to recover stolen funds, usually in exchange for fees, according to the AARP (2).
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The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center says Americans reported at least $16.6 billion in scam losses in 2024 (3). Such devastating losses can make victims vulnerable to recovery schemes.
Scammers often already know details about victims because criminal groups share or sell lists of people who have previously been targeted. In other cases, fraudsters impersonate law firms, FBI agents or other officials to make their pitch sound legitimate.
To make things worse in the Jonas case, the alleged lawyer was impersonating real-life lawyer Dennis John Solis of Escondido, California, using his identity and California bar license number. Solis only discovered the fraud after a state bar investigator contacted him about complaints.
Some schemes go even further, building entire fake law firms with websites and professional-looking attorney biographies.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission warns new technologies are making these scams harder to detect (4). Fraud rings can now generate realistic identification documents, create professional websites and even stage convincing video calls using stolen identities or AI-generated imagery. OpenAI has even banned certain ChatGPT accounts due to ties with false lawyers and bogus law firms, according to Above the Law (5).
In many cases, criminals also exploit search engines or social media by advertising fake “fund recovery” services so when victims look online for help, the scammers appear first.
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The FBI says these are some red flags to watch out for (6):
- Lawyers or legal firms you’ve never contacted reaching out to you
- Asking for payment via cryptocurrency or gift cards
- Pressure to join secret group chats or pay third-party fees
- Refusing to show credentials, appear on video, or provide verifiable licenses
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How to protect yourself from fake lawyers
The FBI says there are several ways consumers can protect themselves if they’re considering hiring someone to recover stolen money.
1. Verify the lawyer independently
Always check an attorney’s license through a state bar association directory instead of just trusting credentials they send you. Contact the lawyer using the phone number listed in the official directory.
2. Watch out for unsolicited outreach
Legitimate law firms or government agencies rarely contact victims out of the blue offering to recover money.
3. Look out for fees
Recovery scammers often demand large upfront payments for “investigative costs,” “filing fees” or “taxes” before they supposedly release recovered funds.
4. Avoid links or forms
Fraudsters may send victims to fake websites designed to collect personal data or payment information.
5. Report suspected scams
Victims should report incidents to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) or local consumer protection agencies.
For families like the Jonases, the experience is still dragging on as they deal with the aftermath.
Even after cutting off contact with scammers, changing phone numbers and deleting messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram from his father’s phone, Nick Jonas still receives messages from fraudsters, some even include images of his father’s driver’s license. He now blocks and reports the messages, which sometimes pop up several times a week.
Once someone has been targeted, scammers may keep trying. And for victims who have already lost so much, the promise of getting their money back can be the most powerful trap of all, so savvy consumers need to watch out for red flags.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
The New York Times (1); AARP (2); FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (3); Commodity Futures Trading Commission (4); Above the Law (5); FBI (6, 7)
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Jessica is a freelance writer with a professional background in economic development and small business consulting. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Sociology and is completing her Publishing Certificate.
