Of course you have to pay it back yourself. If the scammer is caught and the money is recovered, the money can only be returned to you. Legal basis: Article 266 of the "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" Whoever defrauds public or private property and the amount is relatively large shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or surveillance, and shall also or solely be fined for a huge amount or other If the circumstances are serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than ten years, and the fine amount shall be extremely huge, or if there are other particularly serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or his property shall be confiscated. If this law provides otherwise, the provisions shall prevail. Article 192. Whoever uses fraudulent methods to illegally raise funds for the purpose of illegal possession and the amount is relatively large shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years. If the amount of punishment is huge or there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years. Imprisonment or life imprisonment, and a fine or confiscation of property. If a unit commits the crime in the preceding paragraph, the unit shall be fined, and the person directly in charge and other directly responsible personnel shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph. Article 266 Whoever defrauds public or private property and the amount is relatively large shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also or solely be fined; if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to not less than three years but not more than 10 years. Fixed-term imprisonment and a fine; if the amount is particularly huge or there are other particularly serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined or have property confiscated. If this law provides otherwise, the provisions shall prevail.