--- title: "Law Enforcement & Police Support" canonical: https://againstscams.org/about-scars/law-enforcement-police-support/ type: page author: "SCARS Intitute" published: 2017-08-27 modified: 2026-11-11 summary: "" organization: "SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams" organization_url: https://againstscams.org/ llms: https://againstscams.org/llms.txt --- # Law Enforcement & Police Support # For Law Enforcement ### SCARS National & International Law Enforcement Support When a scam victim comes to you, they may be telling someone what happened for the first time. They may arrive with hundreds of messages and no clear sense of which ones matter. They may be ashamed of sending money, afraid of how their family will react, or still trying to understand how someone they trusted could have deceived them. How you receive that first report shapes what they are willing to tell you and whether they feel able to ask for further help. The SCARS Institute can help you understand what scam victims experience before, during, and after the crime. We can also give you a place to direct victims for education and recovery support. Whether you take reports, investigate fraud, coordinate victim services, or lead an [agency](https://againstscams.org/glossary-term/agency/), you can use our resources to strengthen your response to the people behind the cases. **Understand the Scam From the Victim’s Perspective** When you review a case, you can see the [false identity](https://againstscams.org/glossary-term/false-identity/), the requests for money, and the pattern that ties them together. The victim encountered those details one at a time. In a trust-based [relationship scam](https://againstscams.org/glossary-term/relationship-scam/), the offender may have spent months building trust before making a financial request. By the time money entered the conversation, the victim understood the request in the context of a relationship they believed was real. To understand why they acted, ask what they knew and believed at the time of each decision. Discovery can bring several losses at once. The victim may be facing serious financial harm while grieving a relationship, questioning their own judgment, and worrying about how others will see them. You may hear them speak with anger about the crime and with affection about the person they believed they knew. Understanding how attachment and betrayal can coexist helps you make sense of what you hear and ask questions that bring out more of the sequence. **Help the Victim Give a Clearer Account** You may need a chronological account from someone who has been reliving the moment they discovered the scam. Give them a starting point and work through one part at a time. Ask where the first contact occurred, how the conversation developed, when the offender first asked for money, and what happened next. You can explain which records would help you and why, especially when a victim has brought months of messages, receipts, and screenshots. The wording of your questions matters. “What did they tell you the money was for?” gives the victim a concrete question to answer. “What made their explanation believable at the time?” helps you identify how the offender built [credibility](https://againstscams.org/glossary-term/credibility/) or created urgency. When you explain what happens after the report and what the victim can expect to hear from your [agency](https://againstscams.org/glossary-term/agency/), you give them a clearer sense of what comes next. **Give Victims a Place to Turn After the Report** The questions a victim brings to you often extend beyond the case. They may want to know why they still miss the person, how to tell their family, or how to deal with the shame they feel when they think about sending money. You can direct them to the SCARS Institute for [scam education](https://againstscams.org/glossary-term/scam-education/), structured [peer support](https://againstscams.org/glossary-term/peer-support/), and self-guided recovery resources. Our work helps victims understand how they were manipulated, make sense of their reactions, and begin working through the effects of the crime. A referral gives you a practical way to respond when a victim asks, “What do I do now?” The victim can begin learning about recovery while your [agency](https://againstscams.org/glossary-term/agency/) handles the report or investigation. You can make that connection through your officers, victim advocates, or the information your agency provides when a report is taken. **Build Your Agency’s Understanding of Scam Victimization** If you lead an agency, you can help establish a consistent response from the first person who takes the call to the investigators and advocates who follow up. The SCARS Institute draws on its work with victims and on academic research from around the world to explain the psychological, neurological, and physiological dimensions of the scam victim experience. We can help your personnel understand how offenders build trust, what victims face when they discover the crime, and why reporting can be so difficult. You can contact us to discuss educational presentations, resources for your personnel, and ways to connect victims with recovery support. Whether you are responding to a single case or reviewing your agency’s approach to scam victimization, we welcome the opportunity to work with you. [contact@AgainstScams.org](mailto:contact@AgainstScams.org)