Investment and recovery scams often arrive with a solemn seal: a “Financial Protection Regulatory Authority”, a lookalike Payment Systems Regulator email, or a made-up AML portal that wants you to unlock a wallet.
Sometimes they impersonate a real body and send you a link to the genuine homepage for credibility — while the chat continues from a freemail address or a fantasy domain. Sometimes they invent a whole regulator, complete with Paris address and WhatsApp inspector.
Real supervisors do not cold-message victims asking for crypto fees to release funds. They publish on government or official organisation domains, and they expect you to find them through public directories — not through a broker who “escalated your case”.
Quick check: find the regulator’s official site independently (for the UK start from gov.uk / fca.org.uk style domains you type yourself). Compare the legal name, email domain and phone. If the story needs a USDT payment to “comply with AMLD”, hang up.
If this pattern matches something you’ve been offered, start at Get help. If someone is already pitching “recovery”, read Fake recovery before you pay another fee.
This article is for general information only. It is not legal or financial advice. Details change. If you have lost money, contact your bank or card issuer and use the routes on the help pages.