How to emotionally recover after being scammed

Becoming a victim of online fraud can take a toll on your mental health. Credit: Ian Moore / Mashable Composite; boonchai wedmakawand / Moment / Tempura / E+ / Ivan Yarovyi / iStock / Getty Debbie Deem has spent the past four decades helping crime victims, including a stint as a victim specialist for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She's worked with people who've experienced assault, trafficking, and terrorism, among other horrific crimes. Retired since 2019, she's now a volunteer advocate and coach who focuses on what she describes as transnational fraud victim assistance. Deem prefers the term "transnational fraud" over scam, because she believes it more accurately describes how organized international criminal networks and gangs use sophisticated methods in order to steal money and valuable data from their targets. "Increasingly, there is recognition that anyone can be defrauded by these networks, just by employing differing psychological tactics," Deem says. This context is of...