RecoveryPath

You've been scammed. Every minute counts. RecoveryPath gives you an instant, personalized action plan , the right steps, in the right order, before it's too late.

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Inspiration

It starts with a text message. Or a phone call. Or a job offer that sounds almost too good.

52% of scams are completed in under 30 minutes — yet most fraud victims spend those critical minutes paralyzed, not knowing who to call first, whether to change their password or contact their bank, whether it's already too late.

Most fraud-prevention tools protect you before the scam. RecoveryPath is the missing piece: it helps you after. Because the moment of panic is exactly when people need the clearest possible guidance.

## What it does

RecoveryPath gives scam victims a personalized, prioritized action plan in under 10 seconds.

Answer 3 questions:

  1. What type of fraud? (phishing, bank transfer, fake recruiter, SMS scam, fake tech support...)
  2. When did it happen? (last hour → CRITICAL / today → URGENT / this week → MODERATE / over a month → MANAGE)
  3. What was the damage? (money sent, banking details shared, ID documents given, nothing yet)

The app instantly generates a step-by-step checklist tailored to your exact situation — with official contacts (17Cyber, ACPR Banque de France, cybermalveillance.gouv.fr), a ready-to-use bank call script invoking Article L133-18 of the French Monetary Code, a downloadable PDF, and a share button to send the plan to someone who can help.

Works offline and installs as a native app on iOS and Android (PWA) — accessible even when someone is too panicked to remember a URL.

No account. No data collected. Everything runs locally in the browser.

## How we built it

Pure HTML, CSS, and Vanilla JS — deliberately. When someone is in crisis, the last thing they need is a slow load time or a broken API call. The entire decision tree is a static JS object: zero backend, zero hallucination risk, zero dependency on external services.

The PDF is generated client-side with jsPDF. The app installs as a native-feeling app on any device via a Web App Manifest and service worker. Deployed on Vercel with HTTPS, which enables full PWA functionality.

The architecture is intentional: if every server in the world went down, RecoveryPath would still work from a victim's phone.

## Challenges we ran into

The hardest part wasn't the code — it was the content.

Building a decision tree that's actually correct under French law, with verified contacts, in the right priority order, across 6 fraud types × 4 time windows × 4 damage scenarios — that's 96 possible paths. Every single action had to be verified against official government sources. Some links we found were dead (including official-looking mediator sites). We had to dig to find what actually works.

The second challenge was tone. Fraud victims are scared. The UI had to feel urgent without being overwhelming — clear enough to

## Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • A complete, legally grounded action plan generated in under 10 seconds with zero backend
  • A bank call script that cites the exact French law article victims need to demand reimbursement
  • Full PWA: installable on iPhone and Android, works offline, feels native
  • 96 decision paths covering the most common fraud types in France, all verified against official sources
  • Zero data collection — a tool that genuinely respects victims at their most vulnerable moment

## What we learned

Content is harder than code. Knowing what to tell someone in a crisis — in the right order, with the right urgency, without overwhelming them — required more research and iteration than any technical challenge.

We also learned that "simple" is a design decision, not a limitation. Choosing Vanilla JS and a static decision tree meant we could ship something that is fast, auditable, and will never go down because an API key expired.

## What's next for RecoveryPath

  • English version for EU-wide reach — the fraud landscape is identical across borders
  • More fraud types: cryptocurrency scams, romance scams, fake landlord scams
  • Smart follow-up: time-based reminders ("You have 13 months to dispute this bank transfer — here's how")
  • Multilingual PWA with localized official contacts per country
  • Partnership with cybermalveillance.gouv.fr to integrate directly into their victim support flow

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