Scammers use a number of clever schemes to trick people into sending them money: they might promise a job, a loan, a scholarship, or a prize. They might even promise to recover money lost to a previous scam.

That’s right. Some scammers contact people who already have lost money to scam artists and offer to get the money back — for a fee. Sometimes, they claim to represent government agencies or offer to file necessary paperwork with law enforcement. No matter the pitch, it’s against the law for them to take your money in advance. 

That’s the basis of a recent settlement between the FTC and Business Recovery Services LLC. According to the FTC, the company sold do-it-yourself kits — priced up to $499 — that were supposed to help people recover money they had lost to business opportunity and work-at-home schemes. The FTC argued that for many people the kits didn’t work, and that the company violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule by charging money upfront and making false claims about how effective the kits were. 

Read up on refund and recovery scams, and don’t do business with anyone who guarantees they can get your money back — and asks you to pay in advance.