Questions worth asking first

Ask it of everyone, including us — fake recovery services are one of the commonest second frauds, and the people running them are fluent in exactly the reassurance you want to hear. The difference here is verifiable in about a minute and does not depend on trusting anything we say: Crown Solicitors is a firm of solicitors, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 8011477. Look that number up on the SRA's own public register before you speak to us. An unregulated recovery agent cannot appear there, cannot carry the compulsory insurance that comes with it, and cannot be struck off for taking your money.

Nothing, and it carries no obligation. If we go on to act for you, how the work is funded is agreed with you in writing before any chargeable work starts, so you are never presented with a bill you did not see coming.

We do not know yet, and anybody who answers that question before looking at your case is selling you something. Some money is recoverable and some is genuinely gone. What we will do is find out which applies to you and tell you honestly, including when the answer is one you would rather not hear.

No. If we do not think recovery is realistic we will say so at the assessment stage rather than taking the work. Running a case that cannot succeed serves nobody, and it costs you money and time you have already lost enough of.

Possibly not. Tracing does get harder as time passes and some claims carry legal time limits, but a delay is a reason to move now rather than a reason to give up. The assessment will tell you where you actually stand.

That is the ordinary shape of these cases, not a dead end. English courts can make orders reaching banks, exchanges and assets connected to this country, and we work with lawyers in other jurisdictions when a case calls for it.

This happens to a great many people and it does not stop us helping. Bring whatever you were told or sent — occasionally it contains something useful — and we will look at it as part of the free assessment, at no cost to you.

Not in the least. If you can tell us what happened and share what you have — a platform name, an address you sent to, a screenshot, some bank statements — that is enough to begin with. The technical work is ours.

Yes, reporting to Action Fraud or the police is worth doing, and we can help you do it. Criminal reporting and civil recovery are separate routes that run perfectly well side by side: the police pursue the people, we pursue the money.

Whatever you have. How you were first contacted, what you paid and when, the names of the platforms or people involved, and any statements, receipts, messages, addresses or transaction references. Gaps are normal — much of the record can be obtained later through the banks or the courts.

Your matter is confidential, and what you tell a solicitor is protected by legal professional privilege. A great many people feel humiliated by this and should not: these are professional operations designed by experienced people to deceive careful ones.

It depends entirely on the case — how the money moved, who is holding it, whether proceedings are needed. We would rather give you a realistic sense of your own timescale once we have looked at it than a comfortable number now that turns out to mean nothing.

Somebody at the firm reads it and comes back to you. Not a call centre and not a script. If we think we can help, we will explain what the next steps would be. If we do not, we will tell you that too, and where else you might usefully turn.